Inside the Fire
by Thine Dreamer Doth Take Flight
Summary: We all know about how Wanderer went into the Forbidden Lands to bring the girl back from the dead. Well, this story is a variation of the video game. It starts at before the girl dies. OC present. The story is told by the girl's sister. Please read.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Okay...This is a little outside of my territory. I'm a big __**Naruto**__ fan-fic author. I pride myself in being so. However, I played this video game after watching my father defeat the huge colossi, and now I am drawn to the game and the events in it. I feel sorry for the poor Wanderer, for he went through all that trouble for some dead girl only to be possessed by Dormin and used for evil...and then he ends up being a baby again! Is the girl really worth it?_

_Anyway, I developed a story for this great video game, and I want to share it with you all. No, I do not own the game or any of the characters in this story except those that I create. And, since the dead chick doesn't really have a name in the game, I own the one that she'll have in this. So please, read on._

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**Inside the Fire**

Chapter 1

Wanderer…

He had suffered so much since she died several moons ago…

She was sacrificed because of her cursed fate, and of all of us, _he_ suffered the most.

Love can do that to a person…At least, that's what I've heard…and seen, since I've observed him…Wanderer.

But…What good is a story if you start in the middle? Let me begin at the very beginning of this tragic tale. For this tale is very much reality…For me, Wanderer, Agro, and _her_. Come with me as I retell this fateful journey, and please, don't turn away.

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He came to our village without a name or place. He appeared very foreign when compared to one of us, but he spoke our language well. His hair was a dark brown like the ground after a rain, and his eyes were a blue sky after the clouds had parted. Though his face appeared feminine, everything else about him was masculine. He came to fit into our village, like he belonged there. And being so, we called the man Wanderer, and he gratefully accepted the name.

But he did not journey to our village alone. No. There were no villages nearby that had such people that were like him. To travel to our home, he would need a form of transportation. And that was his ebony steed, which he had named Agro. He was a fine horse with a circle of white on his brow, and that was the only color the horse had. But he was kind and gentle, and even protective when it came to his master. Those two had a great bond that could never be severed through any means…but death.

I say that he came to fit into our village, but there were still some of my people who distrusted him. Lord Emon and his followers whispered that they thought Wanderer could do harm to our people, that he had been sent to ruin our lives. But they kept those thoughts to themselves, for Wanderer was very liked in our village. To speak against him would bring the fury of the village down upon them. So, whatever they believed Wanderer would do to our village or what kind of a man he was, they kept it in their minds for their own safety.

The girl that Wanderer came to love was not a foreigner like him—she was a member of our village. I knew her well, for what girl does not know her own sister? She was pallid, paler than the rest of our people. But she spent as much time in the field as the rest of us, and yet the sun had no effect on her. The tone of her skin was a sign that only Lord Emon and his followers knew about. But they never spoke of it in front of me. My sister's hair was as long as Wanderer's; it fell around her shoulders, and was as black as Agro's fur. Her eyes were dark in color, but the color was always changing. It was yet another sign of her cursed fate that Lord Emon did not speak of. My sister was an innocent girl who had never loved before…and my parents named her Devin.

Wanderer and Devin were a few years apart in age, but they were still youths. I was sixteen at the time that everything changed. They never met for weeks, but I could always catch Devin peering over at him as they both worked in the fields. Sometimes, I even caught a glimpse of Wanderer glancing over in her direction. I could tell immediately that the two of them would eventually have a bond based on love, one that would never die…No matter what. All that this connection would need…was a push.

Wanderer and I had been befriended, just as he had with the other villagers except my sister. He was the one who finally taught me how to ride, even though girls weren't supposed to do so. He taught me how to use a bow and arrow, and how to wield a sword. Lord Emon disapproved of this, and he started teaching me the incantations of a priestess. But that didn't stop me from learning from Wanderer. We were acquaintances, and we could converse about anything.

So I told him to meet me in the forest just after dark, and purposely forgot to mention that Devin would be there as well…

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Just as the sun fell behind the hills, Wanderer and I went riding into the cover of the forest. The night was warm, for it was what you people would call summer. Agro was outrunning my five-year-old white mare with ease. I narrowed my eyes in determination and drove my horse faster in an attempt to at least catch up to him. He looked back at me and smiled, slowing his horse down slightly. I glared at him for going so easy on me and drove my horse to go even faster. Wanderer's eyes widened as I sped past him, and he quickly brought Agro back up to speed. But instead of racing ahead of me like he could have, he stayed at the same pace as me. I rolled my eyes in disapproval, but a smile couldn't help but appear on my face.

"What? Was I going too fast for you?" I teased as we both eased our horses to a walking speed so they wouldn't tire out.

"Hardly. I just didn't want to tire Agro by racing you," Wanderer stated, patting Agro's neck affectionately. "Besides, your mare seems a little breathless after that speed you forced her into. She's not strong enough to run so quickly for so long, Liliane."

"I know. But at least she gave me a fighting chance of beating you," I said. "She can only learn through experience, but I suppose it is not right to force it on her like that. Sorry. But you should know better than to get me going like you did. If you hadn't taken off on Agro like that, I wouldn't have been tempted to push this mare that far. So, in all honesty, it's your fault."

Wanderer did not reply to that. He just smiled kindly at me as we continued to travel into the forest. We grew closer and closer to the location where I had taken Devin only a while ago…

Yes, my name is Liliane. I am a priestess apprentice, almost a full-fledged priestess after a year of training. Wanderer and I are about the same height, an unlikely occurrence in my village. Women are usually significantly shorter than the men. But Wanderer is one of the smaller men in my village, and my father was a tall man. I inherited most of my features from my father. My hair is the color of the sun on a clear day, and runs down to the small of my back. My eyes are the shade of the grass that grows along the rivers, and many people say that they shine like the stars. The tone of my skin is tan, for unlike most women my age, I spend as much time in the wilderness as possible. But it is not that dark. It is about as dark as sand. But that is darker than most people in the village. Even Wanderer is much paler than me. Perhaps that is due to the nature of his origins. Who is to know?

But back to the tale, for I am not one so vain as to talk about myself for a long time…

I pulled on the reins of my horse when I caught sight of someone just ahead of us. Wanderer followed my example with Agro, confusion the dominant expression on his face. We dismounted together, and although Wanderer appeared to want to inquire of the cause of our stop, he remained silent. That was in his nature. He was never a man of many words. He would not change his ways just to ponder upon something so trivial as this.

Upon seeing me, Devin walked forward towards us. She did not see Wanderer yet, for whenever she saw him, her face would become red as a rose. But as for this moment, she did not blush.

Wanderer, however, did turn red when he saw her approaching. Things started to piece themselves together in his mind, and now confusion abandoned his expression and only left embarrassment behind. He hid himself behind Agro like a child hides from being reprimanded. I could not help but giggle at his foolishness. I had never seen a man his age act so foolishly just because he saw a girl. However, most men his age are already wed, so they have no need to act in such ways.

As Devin grew closer, I could see the confusion shining in her eyes as well. I comprehended her puzzlement. What she saw was her sister two years her junior, and two horses, for Wanderer could not be seen from where she stood. Her mind was perhaps plagued by the question of how one girl could get two horses into the forest on her own. Well, she would soon find out when she recognized the black horse.

"Liliane, why did you bring me hither?" Devin asked once the distance between us was much smaller.

"I want you to meet someone. There was no other way to get you to meet him, since the both of you seemed so embarrassed by the thought of even conversing together in public," I answered. "But it seems he would rather be red in the face and hide behind a horse than see you. It appears that, even now, he's utterly embarrassed."

Devin raised an eyebrow in surprise, and then suppressed a gasp as she finally recognized the horse beside mine. She walked over to him and stroked his muzzle affectionately, not noticing the man hiding just a little bit away.

"Agro…," she said softly before placing a soft kiss onto his forehead. "If Agro stands hither, does that mean…Wanderer is around?"

I gave a small nod. Devin's face immediately became a red rose, causing me to roll my eyes in irritation.

"Not you as well! He's already doing that himself!" I groaned.

"He is? Whither does Wanderer hide himself from me during his embarrassment?" Devin wanted to know, scanning the surrounding forest for any sign of him.

Agro whinnied and brushed his muzzle against her, gaining her attention. His tail flipped in the air several times, as if he was attempting to give her a message. Devin must have understood, for she looked on that side of the horse. And thither, peering up at her, was her fair Wanderer, still as red as could be.

"I believe you two know each other," I commented as Wanderer stood up hurriedly.

"Actually, we've never met. We never had the chance or the time to converse," Devin said, smiling sweetly at Wanderer.

"Your eyes have met, and that is enough. By all the observing you two have done, you ought to be able to write epics about the other without much hinder," I remarked.

My comment made them turn crimson once more. I groaned to voice my annoyance, but did not speak a word lest ruin the moment. Wanderer and Devin's eyes were locked once more, and it was as if they were exchanging emotions through the mind. If they were any other people, I would have made an uncouth statement in order to put a halt to that. But these two were different. Even at my age, I could see that fate had destined them for each other. Therefore, I would not disrupt the path that the gods had set out for them…Past a few teasing remarks, that is.

"All right, you two. Enough soul-searching. We must return to the village before the others wonder where we have gone," I said. "I realize that the two of you have only just begun your acquainting, but we really must be on our way. I don't want to have to answer to Lord Emon for being late to one of his rituals, and I'm sure he'll be displeased if you two are missing at the same time from the village. So, you can converse on the way back, meet each other at another time and become better acquainted, or receive a lecture from Lord Emon for slipping out of the village during the dark hours and, 'performing immature and unholy behaviors when you haven't been coupled.' The choice is yours."

Devin giggled at my impression of Lord Emon (she did that in 'these'), unable to keep a straight face although she knew better than to laugh about the priest. Wanderer did not laugh, but had to fight in order to remain stern.

"Now Liliane, you know that it is not right for you to mock Emon like that," he remarked in his most serious voice. "You never know. Your mimicking might come back to haunt you in another time."

"Really? What shall he do to me, cast a curse?" I asked with a sinister smirk. "He shall never have knowledge of what conspired hither, and if he did somehow obtain it, we all know that his magic is a hoax. He has no knowledge of the dark magic he claims to perform. Any threat he poses to me at any time is about the equivalence of a threat posed by a fly. So what's the harm of having a little amusement, Wanderer?"

Wanderer still seemed rigid, unwilling to agree with my reasoning. Devin put a gentle hand on his shoulder, gaining his attention.

"Come now, Wanderer. She is still a child. Let her enjoy what is left of her youth while she still has the time," I heard her whisper in his ear. "If you do not do it for her, then do it for me…Please."

Wanderer relaxed a bit, his muscles no longer tense. He grinned kindly at me, and I returned the gentle gesture. I then remounted my white mare and looked in the general direction of our village.

"Are you two coming with me, or shall I expect you home at a later time?" I inquired.

"I suppose we should return to the village. No sense concerning the others about where we are," Devin murmured. "Come on, Wanderer. Let us journey home. There will always be other times for us to converse."

Without a word, Wanderer mounted Agro. Devin looked from one person to the other, attempting to decide with whom she should ride. I rolled my eyes and let out a groan once more.

"Just go ahead and ride with Wanderer," I told her. "That is what you desire to do, anyway."

Devin smiled shyly at me, silently thanking me for being so understanding. I glanced away from her, but not out of anger; it was out of courtesy that I cast my gaze elsewhere. I instructed my mare to run on ahead as means to give my sister and Wanderer space. Then Wanderer assisted her in mounting Agro behind himself, and together they set off after me.

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It was that night that made the two of them indivisible. Well, that is, only when it was safe for them to be with each other. Lord Emon never suspected anything about them that night when we returned slightly later than the curfew he set for the village, but over time, his suspicions grew. He began forcing Wanderer into the fields more often as means to separate him and Devin. And in order to make it against our beliefs for them to be together, Lord Emon even started seeking out a husband for Devin. Even though I desired to lash out at him and inform him that he could never stop Wanderer and Devin from being in the comfort of each other's arms because the gods had planned for them to be coupled, I remained silent.

But even though Wanderer had to labor in the fields longer than any other man in our village and Devin would soon have a suitor, it did not halt their love. Often at night, I would wake up to catch a glimpse of Devin slipping away in the darkness with Wanderer. He was fatigued from the labor, but even that would not stop him from being with Devin. I would smile whenever I saw them running away together and then drift off to sleep once more. If only I had known that their time would be cut short because of Devin's apparent 'cursed fate.' Then perhaps I could have done something to stop the sacrificial death of my sister…and Wanderer's lover.

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I was astonished when Lord Emon summoned all of his priests and priestesses to the main shrine of our village. That had never happened before…At least, not since I had come into the service. Curiosity ruled my mind and senses, so for once, I did not protest or speak uncouth remarks in front of Lord Emon. I desired to hear every word that passed through the elder priest's lips.

"Dearest members of our village and priesthood," Lord Emon began, speaking loudly so that we could all listen, "Thou hath been brought hither in the early hours of the rising sun because a feared prophecy may yet conspire, and destroy the ways we live and the very village we live in."

A few of the other priests began murmuring upon themselves at the comment that Lord Emon had just made. I kept quiet, for I had no knowledge of the prophecy he spoke of.

"Silence!" Lord Emon boomed, causing all the murmuring to stop. "I shall clarify this prophecy for thou who are new to our priesthood. Every one of thou who shall take up the oath of the priest must have knowledge of this disastrous prophecy in order to comprehend what must be done to prevent it. This especially goes for our sister, Liliane, for this shall affect her the most out of the members of our village.

"Thither is a foretelling of a time when a member of the village our forefathers created would cause mass destruction and cause it to be difficult for the people to live hither any longer. It was foretold that this person would be a female pale as death with hair as dark as the night sky, and that she would have the power to bring upon plagues on our village and people. She could even steal the souls from men with one glance into their eyes. The men would complete any task if it meant she would be safe and if it would suffice for her contentment. But she would not possess these abilities until she reached the proper age of womanhood, and then after several moons of her reign, she would become as cold and hard as death, leaving behind her devastation. The men she stole the souls of would be cursed to die when she did. Every priest over the ages have heard this prophecy, and we've all come to fear it. But even so, no one believed it would actually transpire.

"But near eighteen years ago, it was proven to be true. A woman gave birth to a baby pale as death with a head of hair dark as night. Her eyes shifted colors like no one had seen before. The villagers had no knowledge of the prophecy, so they assumed the girl was like them. But the priesthood knew better. I knew better. So, I began to keep a hawk's eye over the girl as to know when exactly her powers would come into her. Everything has gone as the prophecy predicted—she has no powers and poses no threat even to this day. But she is close to the day of her birth, and the prophecy says that when that day comes, the sun will be enshrouded in darkness, the planets will align, and the forces of evil will flow straight into the girl. And the only way to prevent this event is if thou are sacrificed to the gods before the day comes."

I processed Lord Emon's words in my mind harder than I have ever done before. His description of the girl of the dreaded prophecy resembled someone very close to me…and very close to the heart of Wanderer. Did he mean…?

"Do you intend to inform me…" I said, blinking back the tears that watered my eyes, "…that my sister is this so-called unholy monster who shall devastate our home? Devin is this succubus who steals men's souls with one glance and shall die a few moons after the eighteenth celebration of her birth? Are you actually suggesting that my sister…Shy, kind, innocent Devin, who has been very helpful to this village…Are you intending that she shall destroy us?"

Lord Emon nodded. "She has a cursed fate. I apologize for never enlightening you prior to this gathering. We shall converse about this later, dear Liliane. At this moment, I shall converse of how the sacrifice shall be done. Thou does not have to show her presence at the ritual, and may leave now if thou wishes. But you must remain silent about this."

I ran out of the main shrine, tears pouring like rain down my face. The shrine was a slight distance from the village, for only the priests could enter such a holy place and it was better not to tempt the villagers. No one saw me weeping as I ran from the shrine, whistling for the white mare to come hither to me. She responded instantly from where she grazed a slight distance away, galloping over to my side. She nudged me gently with her muzzle an in attempt to comfort me. It did not help that much—the pain of knowledge felt sharp inside of me and keep the river of tears flowing. The urge to ride away and never return was strong inside of me, but the dedication to my sister and my village was even stronger. I had to stay, even if I was forbidden to warn Wanderer and Devin about what would conspire. And I still had to converse with Lord Emon after he informed the other priests of the ritual sacrifice Devin would have to endure…

Feeling that my presence would not be necessary in the shrine for some time, I mounted the mare, and she galloped off into the rising sun. Now, if only my problems were as easy to lose…

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Somehow, my horse led me into the forest. I did not control which direction she took, for I was too stricken with grief to force anything to do my will. And yet, she led me to a place where I had spent many sunrises with Wanderer and Devin…My favorite place. It was as if she had knowledge of what was required to shake me of my sorrow. Unfortunately, it had little effect on my emotions.

Agro stood grazing nearby, providing evidence that Wanderer was nearby. Whether he was alone or with Devin would remain hidden from me until my eyes laid upon them. But it did not matter; I did not have the will to face either of them at the moment.

I began to direct the mare to turn around and leave this place. She refused, giving me a bit of resistance, which was very unlike her. She must have wanted to stay put very badly. Otherwise, she would have followed my directive without hassle. Something was making her stay. And no amount of urges and poking her ribs with my heels would change that. With an agitated sigh, I dismounted, planning on leaving the forest solely because of the mare's stubbornness. She whinnied in protest, and Agro soon joined her.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps behind me. I dare not turn around lest have my fears realized. There could only be one or two people in the forest at the time other than me, for the sun was too low for hunting. Either Wanderer was behind me with Devin, or he was alone. I did not desire to find out. All I desired was to leave and have some time to myself so I could think things through.

"Liliane? What are you doing hither at this time of day?" a male voice I recognized too well inquired.

"…I could request the same from you, Wanderer," I managed to mutter, desperately trying to maintain a steady tone and halt my trembling. It was futile.

A hand fell upon my shoulder, and I could not help but shrink away from the touch after the information Lord Emon had just revealed. To know that his heart would break when _she_ was sacrificed while I knew what would happen to her…It was unbearable.

"What is wrong, Liliane? What has caused you to tremble like a flame being caressed by the cold winds?" Wanderer demanded to know, his tone soft though stern. "Why aren't you in the shrine with the other priests? Did they send you away? Is that why you tremble so and are weeping?"

I shook my head furiously, not speaking lest give away my emotions. Wanderer moved around me until he stood in front of my trembling figure. His blue eyes seemed to gaze into my very soul, and I diverted my gaze lest confirm his assumptions. I wished his presence to fade from this place, and still he remained put. It seemed he would not abandon me when he thought I was in need of him. But in reality, he was making everything worse for my conscience. Why would he not leave me to wallow in despair for the events that would soon conspire? Did he not comprehend that there was nothing he could do for me, and that this was something he would loathe me for later?

Perhaps not. I had not told him a thing about the subject. It only made sense that he would act foolishly if he had no knowledge of what it was he was protecting.

But I could not tell him about the prophecy or the ritual sacrifice of my sister. It was forbidden, and to do so would be treason and send Wanderer into a fiery rage. It may cause him to do the unimaginable and slay all the priests just to thwart this from transpiring on Devin. Then he would be executed for his crimes, and Devin would forever weep over his passing. So it was for the best that I tell Wanderer as little as was possible to satisfy his curiosity.

"…Is…Is Devin hither with you?" I asked softly, unable to speak above a whisper.

"No. I came alone to rest awhile before laboring in the fields. She rests at home," Wanderer replied. "We aren't spending as much time together as before, for we need not raise suspicions of our…relationship."

Wanderer was very modest about their 'relationship'. We both knew it was more than that. There was unquestionably intimacy mixed in it, and Devin was no longer a maiden, to my knowledge. But the need for secrecy of their love was essential—if Lord Emon found out about them, there would be severe punishment and penance for their religious crime against the gods. It only made sense that they would spend less time in the company of each other.

"…I was…dismissed from the shrine…after hearing of…a human sacrifice they must carry out for the gods…," I murmured. "…Lord Emon must have…understood…that I was not prepared for such a ritual…and so he excused me from the discussion and the ritual. That is why I am a flame…when it is being caressed by the cold winds. I could not picture myself…slaughtering an innocent human being…just to please the gods…"

My voice shattered like glass, being choked off by the sobs that overcame my tone. Wanderer, though stricken by the information I had just revealed, opened his arms and allowed me to run into them. I wept on his shoulder while he held me close in an attempt to make me feel better. It helped very little—the vast weight on my conscience was hardly lifted. I had not lied to Wanderer, but I had not been completely candid with him. He was already upset about the human sacrifice—how distressed would he be when he discovered who would be sacrificed? But I did not allow myself to dwell on the thought for too long lest risk revealing everything to Wanderer.

"…You must think me weak, taking off from my duty like I did," I muttered once my tears and sobs were not as many. "I'm just a little girl posing as a priestess. I've no backbone to fill my position and obligation to the village. What good is a priestess who cannot carry out a simple ritual without becoming emotional?"

"…I do not think you weak. I believe you humane, and it takes a strong person to decline performing a murder in the name of the gods," Wanderer stated, causing me to glance at him. "You are still a youth. Lord Emon should not have put something as heartless as murder for the gods on you. If he believes a sixteenth-year-old girl is prepared for such a ritual, then he had the brains of an insect. If you are strong enough to murder, then the gods shall damn and strike me down where I stand! Lord Emon has lost his wits, and I shall praise the gods when he passes into the underworld!"

"…Would you really do something so dramatic?" I managed a small grin at his words.

"Yes. And only because that heartless beast does not deserve the power the gods have bestowed upon him. They should see the evil this man is doing and putting youths through, and strike him down now. If they do not see this evil, then the gods must be blind with power."

"Wanderer! Do not blaspheme! Do you wish to be damned for speaking such words against the gods?"

Wanderer smiled at me. "I'd prefer to go to heaven with you and Devin, but I will accept whatever destiny the gods have laid out for me. I have done things in my past that I could never atone for, but with Devin at my side, I feel…Anything's possible."

If only he knew that the destiny the gods had laid out for him would lead only to despair and tragedy…Then perhaps he would not have been so trusting in his ability to atone or even remain with us…Devin and I…

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_A/N:_ _Well, what do you think? Is this pretty good for my first ever __**Shadow of the Colossus **__fan-fic chapter? And about the girl's name...and the title of this book...there's a significant reason for both. You will discover that in later chapters, if you haven't already. Whatever you think about this, I want your opinion. Please review. No flames please. I don't need them; Wanderer and Devin do. Constructive criticism, however, is welcome._


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I hope you people who have found this story will stick with it until the very end. I admit that it is not at all like the video game, but I hope that you find it interesting and entertaining. Please continue reading my first ever __**Shadow of the Colossus**__ story. Thank you very much._

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Chapter 2

The sunrise came when Lord Emon announced to the village of the ritual human sacrifice. He told of the prophecy, and how the 'evil witch' must be sacrificed before it was too late. He did declare my sister had a cursed fate, and that had she not been, then he would never sacrifice her. He said that Devin was one of the blessings that the gods had bestowed upon our village, but that the forces of evil would use her for their dark purposes if she lived to her eighteenth birthday. So, on this sunrise, he set the time of her execution. It would be carried out that night, when the moon was full and bright.

Wanderer's jaw had been set as he attempted to control his anger when Lord Emon's priests dragged Devin away from her home and into the main shrine. Fear was prominent in her eyes, and she called out to him in desperation to be saved from her death. Tears formed rivers on both my sister's and Wanderer's faces as they saw each other for the last time in life.

I recall weeping at the same moment, but I did not think that Wanderer would want to see me. He could put the pieces together about what I'd told him and what Lord Emon had announced to the village. I knew about the murder of Devin, and did not speak a word about it to him or her. He would evidently be bitter with Lord Emon, but I was sure that he'd be angry with me as well. So, after seeing my sister be dragged into the shrine to be prepared for the ritual sacrifice, I whistled for my white mare and rode away to give Wanderer space.

The mare trotted onward and onward until we approached the still Lake of the Goddess. It was said that this very lake held a connection between the heavens and mortal world, granting the right people audience with the gods, but more commonly, the goddesses. But I always believed that a fable. This place was full of peace and quiet, and I required both at the moment as I wept my heart out.

I dismounted the mare and led her over to the lake's edge so that she could drink It was also said that whoever drank from these waters would become stronger than ever possible to become in a lifetime, but I just thought of that as another fable. I only allowed the mare to drink from this lake because its waters were clearer than any other. Then I walked away from her and sat beneath a willow tree, weeping silently as I attempted to think of my next move.

That was when I heard a distant whinny. The white mare lifted her head and whinnied a reply. It was evident that she was familiar with the horse who was galloping this way. I glanced in the direction of the first whinny and saw a black horse charging towards my peaceful place. I recognized the horse by the white crest upon its head and between the eyes, and immediately looked in the other direction. Why couldn't he just leave me to my despair and take care of his own emotions?

The sound of hooves slowing down on the stone stairs leading up to the lake met my ears. For a moment there was silence, and then the sound of someone walking on the ground. _He_ whispered to the white mare, or Agro (she wasn't looking, so she can't be sure), and then again there was silence. I could imagine _him_ scanning the area for me, wondering where I was when my horse was clearly standing in front of _him_. Then the sound of _him_ walking again echoed throughout this quiet place, and it came closer and closer to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow lurking over my small figure, and I knew immediately that _he_ had found me.

I dare not glance up at him; not now, when my face was blotched up from weeping because of my sorrow. And never again—I had the opportunity to warn him about this, and had not done so. I would never be able to look at him without the guilt creeping into me and making me weep once more.

"…Why…did you pursue me…?" My voice was so choked with sorrow that it did not sound like mine. Would Wanderer even recognize it if I could not?

"…You just took off…I thought you needed comforting." Though pain and grief were vocalized in his voice, anger was the most prominent emotion I could hear. Was that anger directed towards me, or was it meant for the priests who were to sacrifice my sister and his lover? I could not tell.

"Thank you…for your concern. But…But you are in as much despair…as I am…If not more…," I whispered, still not casting my gaze up at him.

"It seems that I'm in more despair than you, seeing as you knew about this ahead of time. You had time to prepare for this…human sacrifice."

Shocked, I glanced up at him. So he _was_ angry with me. There was no way to mask the betrayal that burned in Wanderer's eyes, but it was clouded over with the pain of the transpiring events. It felt as if my heart was being ripped from beneath my breast when Wanderer _accused_ me of being prepared for the murder of Devin…The murder of _my_ sister…_My_ flesh and blood. Did he think me heartless?

"Do I appear like someone who was prepared for the murdering of my sister?" I hissed, venom on my voice. "Why do you suppose I wanted no part in this ritual? Why do you suppose that Lord Emon dismissed me from it? It is because I want my sister to live! If Lord Emon had his way, it'd be _me_ performing the slaughtering of Devin! Do you think that I want this to transpire? Do you, Wanderer? Do you think that I am the same beast that Lord Emon has become? Do you think me heartless enough to stand around while my sister is killed?"

Wanderer remained silent for a moment, nothing about his posture changing. The only thing that shifted about him…was the anger in his eyes. It seemed to fade away little by little until only a dull flame of it lingered behind. But even a dull flame can burn someone.

"…I'm not angry…because you could have been forced to perform the sacrifice," Wanderer stated through clench teeth. "And I still think you strong for not murdering…I do _not_ think you heartless. But you knew about this the whole time…and you did not tell me _or_ Devin. Why did you keep it a secret from us? If we had known, we could have relocated her so that she would be safe. But we did not know, and now Devin is going to be sacrificed due to some ancient prophecy that was concocted long ago by your forefathers. _That_ is the reason I am angry. Why did you hide the truth from us, Liliane?"

"It was forbidden for me to speak a word about the human sacrifice! Even telling _you_ that there would _be_ a ritual sacrifice was risking my hide! If I had revealed the truth to you and Devin, who is to say what would have become of me? If you two turned up missing all of a sudden, without warning, I would have been severely punished for telling you what was to conspire! Perhaps I would have been killed in _her _place! You two would be living somewhere else, happy in the comfort of the other, while _I_ became the crow's meal! But you and Devin would not have dwelled on my well-being! You only cared for each other ever since I introduced you!"

"Liliane, you know that is not true. If you had told us of what Lord Emon was planning, we would not have left you here to face the consequences alone. You would have come with us to wherever it was we ran to, and we would have been safe. I know Devin and I have not been very much time with you recently, and I'm sorry. But we do not mean to neglect because of our indulgence in each other. I apologize for any needless pain you've had to endure because we were not thither for you.

"But now, there are more important things to fret about. Devin will be executed at nightfall when the moon shines overhead. We must discover a way to retrieve her and slip away beforehand. I do not know about you, but if Devin is to die, I will not be able to live any longer."

Hearing those words spoken by Wanderer felt like a sword stabbing through my heart. He loved Devin so much that he was willing to break tradition in order to save her. And if she died, he would go insane…and perhaps join her in heaven soon. I could not let that happen…But slipping into the main shrine without being caught _and_ bringing Devin out as well? It would not be possible! It was hard enough for commoners to walk into such a holy place, but with all of those priests standing guard…It was not possible!

"…Wanderer…We cannot save Devin," I managed to murmur, lowering my gaze so I would not see the emotions fluttering in his eyes.

"Why not? What have we to lose?" Wanderer demanded. I was amazed that he had not raised his voice to me even once yet. How could he remain so calm during such a furor as this? It was a mystery to me. "If we don't even try, she'll be executed…Slaughtered like a pig. Is that what you desire for your sister?"

"No…I do not desire my sister's death…But it is not possible to slip into the shrine and escape with Devin without being seen. To even attempt such a mission…will end in severe punishment. Lord Emon…already knows how you feel about her. If you…go through with this…I'm almost certain…that he'll have you killed as well. And then, who will be here to comfort the villagers…and give them hope during these tough times…if you are dead, too? After all is spoken and accomplished, only Lord Emon will stand in glory…if you both were to die. And I will be so full of grief…that I will perhaps drown myself in the very lake that I now look upon for peace. Would you desire the deaths of not just Devin, but yourself _and_ me as well?"

Wanderer remained silent. His hands were clenched into fists as he attempted to keep calm. I made certain that my gaze never fell upon his face, for I knew he was weeping.

"I apologize, Wanderer…But do not attempt to save Devin. That can only lead to more despair…and grief…for our entire village. Devin, as fearful as she may be, would want you to remain living and move on. So, if you will not do that for me, do it…for her."

Some way or another, I managed to stand. Keeping my eyes lowered, I walked over to Wanderer's side, and gently embraced him in a comforting manner. He remained still as a statue, but his weeping continued. I whispered a prayer to him before releasing him, and mounted the white mare. And then I left Wanderer in despair…something that would always weigh heavily on my conscience.

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We did not attend the ritual sacrifice of my sister that night, which we would perhaps be reprimanded for later. But we did not care to watch the murdering of one so close to us. Instead, we remained secluded in the forest far away from where the ritual was being carried out. I practiced shooting the arrows at different targets, for I had a plan for ridding the world of the evil that Emon –I would no longer think of him as 'Lord'—had become. Wanderer just observed me, never speaking unless I inquired about how to perform something or shoot at something.

But even though we did not attend, a companion of ours told us about it, giving as few details as possible for he knew how close we were to Devin.

She had been struck down by a single stab wound to the heart with the sacred sword that was only to be handled by priests of high power on the Altar of the Gods. She had been a warrior, trying to resist being killed like livestock, so the priests were forced to bind her hands and feet so that she could not oppose them any longer. The priests had dressed her in a dark garb to give the appearance that they were performing the gods' will by ridding the world of this girl, and Emon had been the one to commit the murder. He himself had drenched his hands in her blood, and shouted to the heavens about the good deed he had committed. He announced to the villagers present that there would be no evil in our village now that the sacrifice had been made. He smiled as if expecting cheers and gratitude, but no one made a sound. It showed that even the common villagers were not pleased with the death of Devin.

The body of my sister was left on the altar to decay and become the crow's meal. Wanderer and I, upon hearing this, rode towards the Altar of the Gods where she lay and took her body away from such a despicable place. Emon had gone too far when he left her like that on the holy altar. I swore right then that I would strike him down one day. His days were numbered, as people in your time would say.

Wanderer kept Devin's body in his home, and I spent most of my day there with him and her corpse. Emon hunted me down and demanded a reason for me not arriving at the shrine with all the other priests, but I just simply told him that I desired no part in his cult. He ranted on about how this was a crime against the gods, and I replied by saying that killing my sister was a worse crime against the gods. Rather than argue with me, he cursed me and trudged away. He never approached me again.

I observed Wanderer intently as the harvesting season came around. He spent as much time laboring in the fields as any other man, but there were often times when he would disappear and no one knew where he was. When he returned with Agro to his home, he would say nothing of his travels and whereabouts, and I was too courteous to pry. He never seemed to sleep anymore—often times I'd wake in the middle of the night and see him at Devin's side, speaking to her as if she were still living, stroking her dark hair affectionately. He spoke of traveling to some distant land and bringing her back to life there. That made me curious, but I did not have the courage to ask of what he was conversing about.

Through the days, I lied in wait, wondering what Wanderer's next move would be…and what land he was speaking about to the dead…

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I caught Wanderer conversing with a fair-haired priest that I had once been acquainted with. They seemed to be speaking of important matters, and I did not want Wanderer to know that I had pursued him after he had left, so I hid in the shadows behind the main shrine while they conversed. Then, as soon as Wanderer rode off, I slipped inside the shrine and confronted the priest. He appeared unwilling to speak, so I grasped him by the front of his garb and pressed his back against the wall without the gentleness a girl my age should possess. With threats, I managed to make him open up to me.

"I shall ask you one last time," I stated, punching him across the face once more. Blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth. "What did you and Wanderer speak of just now?"

He remained silent. I lifted my fist up threateningly.

"Do not strike me again, Liliane. I will answer your question…if you do not harm me anymore," the priest muttered, his voice strong despite the minor injuries he'd received from me.

"All right…No more pain shall be inflicted upon thee who tells of Wanderer's plans," I told him, lowering my hand. "If thou shall give me reason to doubt his word, thither shall be more pain and punishment. So I advise you to be utterly honest…And do not leave anything out, please. The more you reveal, the better it is for you."

"…Wanderer was inquiring about the Forbidden Lands and Dormin…"

"What about the Forbidden Lands? And who is Dormin?"

"The Forbidden Lands are lands forbidden to be traveled upon by mortals. Lord Emon restricted them many, many moons ago…When he was a much younger man. No one but his closest priests knows the reasons for this. Dormin is not a _person_…It is more of a deity…An enigma to all. It is a spiritual being who dwells in the Forbidden Lands, and it is said to have control over all the spirits that are no longer earthbound."

"Is that the reason Wanderer was asking about these lands? So he can plead to this Dormin for Devin's soul to be returned?"

"…To my knowledge…Yes."

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"…Well…"

His hesitation was answer enough. I tightened my grasp around his throat, causing him to gasp. I loosened it again and repeated my inquiry.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"…The sword from this shrine…The one that was used in the ritual sacrifice of your sister…Wanderer stole it…at my urging…for he will need it."

"Why shall he need the sword?"

"Dormin is unwilling to perform the bidding of a mortal without the mortal performing a task for it. That sword is the only way he will be able to perform any task for Dormin, for ancient texts linked to the Forbidden Lands say that the task will include the slaying of some creatures with the sacred sword."

"Wanderer is planning on traveling to the Forbidden Lands…to slay creatures for Dormin…in order to bring back Devin?"

"Now you have it. But it will be impossible for him to accomplish."

"Why?"

"Devin's body was taken by the gods from the altar. Did you not know that? It happened several moons ago, shortly after her sacrifice. Evidently, the gods wanted no evidence that she ever lived."

"Oh." I had forgotten that no one knew Wanderer and I had taken Devin's body from the altar. Everyone in our village, including the priests, believed the gods had destroyed her body, and had scattered the remains all over the world. What fools! The gods did no such thing! Mere mortals relocated her corpse so that it would not be destroyed by crows or the weather! Fools… "Wanderer will attempt to find a way, no matter what, I'm sure."

"I'm sure as well," the priest said as I released him. "Do you plan on traveling with him? Or shall you just pursue him? He is leaving at sundown."

"Is he really? Well, it is evident that he wanted me to have no knowledge of his plans. I do not believe he wanted me to travel with him," I grumbled. "I suppose I will pursue him, whether he minds it or not. Do you have a map that will point me in the direction of the Forbidden Lands?"

The priest shook his head. "The only maps we have leading thither are old, so we'd have to ask someone to draw up another from one of the old ones. Wanderer already had that completed a few moons ago. To have another copy drawn up will take some time…"

"Just have it completed," I ordered. "I only need it in case I cannot see Wanderer any longer, and I must find the way on my own. If I must go without one, then so be it."

"…I'm afraid you will not be able to pursue Wanderer," the priest remarked, drawing my attention once more. "Lord Emon is seeking a husband for you. Says that you would be less trouble if you were coupled to someone who could control you with a firm hand. It shall happen soon, I am certain. And once he has you coupled with someone, it will be nearly impossible for you to slip away from your husband to travel. My apologies."

"…Emon's trying to find me a husband? Damn that elder!" I hissed, punching a wall in my anger, not caring that my hand hurt afterwards. "Why can he not keep to his own life and leave mine alone?"

"Watch your tongue!" the priest commanded. "You are on holy ground! And you are no longer part of our priesthood! You had better be happy that I do not call for the others to drag you off for trespassing on sacred ground!"

I just looked at him with a hint of amusement in my eyes mixed with annoyance from his threat. "Just draw up a map for me to the Forbidden Lands and hand it over when you're finished. Let me be concerned about whether or not I shall have a husband."

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When I returned to Wanderer's home, I found him packing a few items into a small leather saddlebag. Evidently, the priest had not been lying about when Wanderer would set out on his journey. There were plenty of arrows around his waist, enough to take down several herds of grazing animals. His bow was also holstered to his belt, hidden by his shirt (the part that has the weird embroidery and that flies in the wind). Off to the side of his belt, in an ancient-like scabbard, was the sacred sword that had been used to murder my sister. Wanderer packed very little else except food to last him to the Forbidden Lands and the map the priest had told me about.

I watched Wanderer prepare for the journey to the Forbidden Lands with a heavy heart. Thither was no way he would go to a place restricted by Emon and come back unchanged, if he returned at all. And who was to say that Devin would even have a chance of returning with him alive? This was my fault—Wanderer was right. I should have warned him and Devin before the sacrifice was announced. We could have been long gone by now, all three of us alive and well. But I was just a foolish little girl who did not recognize right from wrong, and so I made the wrong decision.

Devin laid whither Wanderer and I had placed her when we stole her from the altar. But she no longer wore that hellish black dress that gave her the appearance of evil. Wanderer had changed her out of the bloody garb-now she wore a white dress almost long enough to cover her bare feet (the dress has that strange embroidery on it, too; if you look close enough, you'll see it in the game, too). With her revolting stab wound masked by this beautiful garment, she looked as if she were just sleeping.

But she was not in the sleep in which one could wake from. She was in eternal slumber, and Wanderer would try to change that.

I hid from him as he walked out of his home, carrying the small saddlebag. He tied it onto Agro's saddle before returning for the corpse of my sister. Wanderer placed a gray blanket around my sister as if to keep her warm and shield her from the elements. Then he lifted her from the bed where she laid and carried her to Agro. He laid her across the saddle, keeping her steady with one hand so she would not fall, and then mounted the dark horse. He held her more comfortably and safely in his arms once he was on Agro. Then he urged Agro to gallop into the setting sun.

And I watched him go…

_I should have warned him and Devin beforehand..._

_I should have warned him and Devin beforehand..._

_I should have warned him and Devin beforehand..._

_But I was too foolish..._

I whistled for the white mare, and when she came, I mounted and rode off after Wanderer. But I was too late—he was just a small dot on the horizon when I started pursuing him. And I lost him shortly afterwards.

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Devin…went to heaven.

And Wanderer…will try to bring her back.

But I…will not have that chance…for several moons…

* * *

_A/N: End of chapter. Is it getting interesting? I know that Devin might not have had this much of a cursed fate, but I had nothing to go on for her fate, so my mind went wild. Liliane beating up a priest was kind of rude, don't cha think? Well, whatever your mind is telling you, I want to know. Please review my story. No flames for me; Wanderer needs them to keep warm more than I do. Constructive criticism is welcome, though._

_Are you starting to see the significance of the title and Devin's name?_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Hey, people. How is it going? Things are great for me, I suppose. Well, I'm not going to waste your time by occupying your mind with an author's note, so please continue being loyal by reading on. Thank you! __!_

* * *

Chapter 3

Within sunrises of Wanderer's departure and the priest's warning, Emon found a suitor for me. It was the strongest youth of our warriors—which meant that he was at least in his thirties—that I never became fond of. He had temper problems, which was why he was so "brilliant in battle," as Emon put it. That was also the reason for the bruises I constantly had all over me. When his temper was not flaring, he was nearly decent. But I despised him with a passion. If Wanderer had been in the village, my husband would have never laid a hand on me.

But he had left for the Forbidden Lands on a mission to bring Devin back to life. Wanderer would never return to our village.

I was on my own.

Being so, I endured my husband's anger silently. For the day when I would escape him was quickly approaching, and then I would never see him again. I looked forward to the day when I would join Wanderer on his quest…especially when my husband threw me around. The thought of stabbing him through the heart with a sword was also very comforting, but you do not care about that, do you?

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The priest drew up a map that would lead me to these Forbidden Lands, and, without me even inquiring, also gave me a map of the Forbidden Lands themselves. I thanked him, apologizing for being so rude as to harm him for information. He just smiled and told me he understood my actions, and wished me luck on my journey.

And so, the night after I received the maps, I slipped something into my husband's drink. Once he was unconscious from the poison (it won't kill 'em; it'll just knock 'em out), I slipped away into the night on the white mare with only the moon as my guide into the night…

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I prepared for the journey with more necessities than Wanderer, just in case anything should happen. I could go for several moons without starving or suffering from similar issues. Wanderer, considering he packed fairly light, would be slowed down by the need for food and water. He would have to hunt, and that could be time-consuming. There was still a chance for me to catch up to him before he reached the Forbidden Lands. But I would have to be quick, or else my window of opportunity would surely close.

So I drove the white mare to her breaking point, attempting to cover as much distance as possible before darkness enveloped the land. When it became too dark or stormy for travel, I found shelter in caves or under ledges that would suffice for our protection. The mare received the best care I could give for her hard work. Most horses would run away from someone who constantly drove them so far, but my mare remained loyal to me throughout our journey. Perhaps we had formed a special bond…Or she was missing the companionship of Agro. They seemed fond of each other when he was still around, and she had been morose when he and Wanderer set off to bring Devin back from the dead. Agro leaving was perhaps the more likely reason for her remaining at my side.

At night, when all was still and the mare slept, I would venture outside of our makeshift shelter and look out at the horizon for any sign that we might be getting closer to Wanderer or the Forbidden Lands. The fair-haired priest had told me the travel to the prohibited lands would take roughly three moons to complete, according to the ancient texts. Surely Wanderer, in his desperation to bring Devin back, would have reached those lands by now. Or, if he hadn't, he would be so far from my location that I would never find even a trace that he had traveled one direction or another. But sometimes I thought I saw smoke rising into the night sky on the horizon. I wondered if that was whither Wanderer slept, Agro and Devin at his side. So when the sun rose, I would travel in that direction only to find that whither I saw the smoke had been abandoned. It saddened me, but it also caused joy to well up inside of me. These lands were uninhabited, according to my priest friend. If there was a campground anywhere, that meant Wanderer had been there, and that I was traveling in the right direction. Perhaps there was still hope of me catching up to him.

The campground I discovered most recently seemed to have been used not too long ago. That warmed me up inside, for I had not come across any sign of Wanderer's travel for several sunrises. This meant that Wanderer was covering more distance in a day, but I was coming closer and closer to his location. Soon, perhaps, we would meet again.

I urged the mare to a canter with that hope in mind.

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Hoof prints…?

In the sand…?

Right in front of me…?

I thought I might be able to catch up to Wanderer, but I never expected to find his horse's trail. He was supposed to be sunrises ahead of me, and therefore his trail would have been blown away by the winds by the time I traveled on the same ground he had crossed. But marks clearly made by hooves now formed a path right in front of me. I was closer than I thought to my friend.

It had been two and a half moons since I slipped out of my village. Only half a moon cycle left until I would reach the Forbidden Lands. Then I would learn the reasoning behind it being prohibited, for _that_ I am sure.

And I'll discover if this Dormin figure really can bring the dead back to life…

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The pillars of smoke that must belong to Wanderer are closer now. He must have really been slowed down by the need to hunt and find water. He left on this journey nearly seven moons ago. He could have lost his way a few times, but he shouldn't have been delayed this long. He should have reached the Forbidden Lands four moons ago, if my priest friend was correct about the timing. What was holding him back?

My joy of meeting him before reaching the Forbidden Lands turned to concern and fear. What was causing Wanderer, who had been so desperate for Devin's life, to slow so much that his journey was taking four moons longer than it should have? Was he dying? Had he gotten lost so much that he was far from his destination, and had only come across the true path recently? Was hunting difficult in these uninhabited lands? I had seen few large animals roaming these lands, but there were plenty of smaller game that Wanderer should have been well-fed with his hunting skills. Was there something wrong with him, or with Agro? Would the next signs of their existence I find be their corpses and Devin's?

These new fears led me to rest less and travel more. The white mare protested at first, for the dark hours were meant for her to recuperate. But she must have sensed my urgency, for she did as I directed her to without resistance once we were on Wanderer's trail again. Before the sun rose, we were off, and after dark we remained, closing the distance between Wanderer and me even quicker than before.

But even so, I feared we would be too late.

I had already suffered from the slaughtering of my sister. My parents had died of an illness when I was still very young. And I was now wedded to a monstrous, ill-tempered warrior who did not honestly care about me—as long as I did what a proper wife should, I was a keeper, as people in your time would say. If Wanderer were to die, I would be completely and utterly alone in this world. There would be no way for me to continue living anymore. I would surely commit suicide if I were to find the corpses of my only three friends. So Agro and Wanderer needed to be alive, for all of our sakes…

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When I finally allowed the white mare to rest under the canopy of the dark, starry sky, I glanced into the horizon for the usual pillar of smoke that had become my assurance that Wanderer was still alive. The moon was fully round and bright tonight, illuminating anything that dare wander into the darkness. Even in the distance I could depict certain figures in the night. A pillar of smoke would be easy to see.

The moon set a time for me. The priest had told me that it would take roughly three moons to reach the Forbidden Lands. If he was correct, I would be in those prohibited lands around the time the moon grew dark again. A margin of error was granted, for no one had traveled to these lands for many, many moons. But that still meant I would be in unknown territory within sunrises. I did not know if I was mentally prepared for this. I had never been very far from my village, but Wanderer had, and his description of the land had been like what you people would call a security blanket. But traveling into lands that he himself had never been to would strip that security from me, leaving me cold and confused. But, as a former priestess-in-training, I would have to be strong and endure this trial set before me.

But my heart nearly stopped when I gazed upon the dark horizon.

There was no pillar of smoke.

That meant there was no fire.

Without fire, Wanderer would have no warmth and be unable to cook his food…

And then he would die.

I nearly sped off into the darkness without sufficient light and without transportation. Without either, I would never be able to see where I was heading nor be able to get there, wherever Wanderer was. But my mind was sharp, and I managed to light a makeshift torch and rouse my tired mare from her slumber before taking off blindly like a buffoon. I mounted the horse and sped off into the night, searching for Wanderer by following Agro's hoof prints that I could plainly see due to the torch and the moonlight.

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I had to suppress the gasp that threatened to escape my lips when the tracks came to an end right outside of a cave. It was dark as night in there as well, but there was no way Wanderer would light a fire in a cave, anyway. He said that you would suffocate from smoke inhalation if you slept with a fire going in an enclosed area such as that. But, if he thought that way, why head in a cave when you could stay outside? Sure, it was slightly chilly, but that was what the fire was for. Something was definitely wrong with Wanderer.

The mare was content to stay outside of the cave alone and grazed on a nearby patch of grass. I left her and entered the cave, holding the torch carefully as I ventured deeper into the stone hole in the earth. Would my eyes gaze upon corpses, or a corpse and a ragged man who was too weak to even light a fire? And what of Agro?

The cave extended much farther back than I anticipated. Still, there were no bodies on the ground. Was I mistaken? Were there others that lived on this land that the priest had no knowledge of? Or had there been tracks leading from this cave that I had missed? No, that wasn't possible. Wanderer must be in this cave. He must be!

I stumbled when something I had not expected crossed my path on the ground. Quickly, I regained balance so I would not fall, and then recognition of the object caused me to freeze up.

Wanderer…?

Yes, thither was no doubting it.

My friend…was…lying in an unmoving heap on the floor…right in front of me…

And I had almost tripped over him.

I tried to stop myself from weeping as I knelt down beside Wanderer. He could still be alive. I have seen people who were so ill they appeared dead, but they still breathed and lived though they did not look like they could. Perhaps that was the case with Wanderer. I felt for a pulse in his neck. Yes, thither was one. It was irregular, but it was still thither. That meant my friend lived. But whither was Devin's corpse…and Agro?

After covering the ill Wanderer with a blanket I had brought along with me, I glanced around the rest of the cave for Agro or the gray bundle that was my sister's corpse. Seeing neither, I softly called out the stallion's name, figuring that Devin must still be on the horse's saddle. A whinny met my ears, and a few moments later the horse emerged from the shadows and approached me.

Agro appeared half-starved, much thinner than he had been when he and Wanderer set out on this journey. And yet he was still strong enough to carry the corpse on his back. His loyalty to Wanderer was so great—most horses would have fled if their master became mad enough to keep them running without a break. But Agro bore his bond with Wanderer with pride, and he would surely die before he disobeyed Wanderer. And it appeared that he might actually die because of Wanderer's fool-heartedness.

I removed Devin from Agro's saddle and gently lay her on the ground near Wanderer. She was unchanged by the journey that was literally killing Wanderer and Agro. But that was only because she was already dead. The dead cannot die again. So she would remain unchanged until the wrong conditions met her body, and then she would begin to decay.

"Agro," I whispered, stroking the horse's thin muzzle, "you need to go outside and eat. You must regain your strength or you'll die. Leave me alone with Wanderer for now."

The horse whinnied in protest, loathing the idea of abandoning his master. I continued to stroke his muzzle so that he would realize I was no threat.

"Trust me, Agro. If you continue to be this loyal to Wanderer, you will die," I told him. "You must allow some room for your own needs. Go eat. You can trust me to care for Wanderer, can you not? I am Liliane, his dearest friend. Thither is no way I could harm him without harming myself. Now go outside and eat."

Agro seemed reluctant to leave, but he eventually left the cave. I whispered an ancient incantation that was something no priest would know. The incantation would ensure that Agro would recover quickly. What was the incantation from? Well, I suppose you could call it…magic…the black arts…things similar to that. I did not use it often. So do not vex me with questions about it…Please.

Once thither was only Wanderer and me in the cave and I had knowledge about all those I feared for, I came nearer to my friend to examine him more closely. From being a priestess-in-training, I had gained knowledge of many illnesses, their symptoms, and how to cure them. All I needed to do was tell exactly which illness my friend had, and then I would either use the black arts or real healing supplies to cure him. Simple as that.

Wanderer moaned in his sleep, calling out for Devin. He was evidently not sleeping peacefully, for he was very fitful in his slumber. I worried that if I laid a hand on him, he'd awaken and jab his sword right through me. So I carefully examined what I could and went off of that. He was very thin, and his face was sunken in, giving him the appearance of someone twice his age. His skin had a yellowish tint to it. With a gentle hand, I touched his brow for evidence of a fever. Yes, thither definitely was a fever. All these symptoms pointed to only one thing…

The disease that had killed my parents.

When that realization came to me, I jerked my hand away from Wanderer's burning flesh. Would the same disease that killed my father and mother take Wanderer from me as well? Had I not suffered enough without this? Had I done something so wicked that the gods were punishing me like this?

I could not contain myself. I fell onto my knees and wept into my hands, overcome with grief. Why must fate be so cruel?

"…L-L-Liliane…?" Wanderer murmured in his fitful sleep. "…Is…Is that you…?"

My lips were quivering too much for me to respond. Besides, he was in a feverish slumber. He would not know that I was thither, even if he was awake. He would believe that he was hallucinating.

"…D-Don't weep…Liliane…E-Everything…will be all right…You will…see…I shall return to our village…with Devin…and then we will leave that accursed place together…The three of us…"

Even on his deathbed, he still carried that dream. I stopped my weeping. I could not let him die without allowing him the chance to accomplish that dream. There were ways to cure this disease, even though they had failed to save my parents. I would use the black arts if it was necessary. But no matter what it took, I would save Wanderer's life. And he would travel into the Forbidden Lands to bring back Devin.

I muttered another incantation, only this one was much longer. A white light emerged from my mouth as I did so, and then it enveloped Wanderer. I pleaded with the gods and spirits alike to take his illness from him so that he may have a chance to return his lover to the world, and so that he may live a long life. The spell I chanted would only work if I were confident in it and if the gods approved. I was as confident as I could be. All that was left was the gods' approval.

I must have received it, for Wanderer glowed with the light that had come from the incantation. His body returned to the way it had been before he set out on his journey. He was no longer thin and sickly, and his skin was no longer yellow. He was healthy once more.

That meant I had to leave.

He would not be happy if he woke up and discovered me thither. Wanderer left me clueless for a reason, and even though I saved his life, he would reprimand me for tracking him down when this was a personal matter. I was not to have knowledge of this. So…I had to leave him before he rose.

I quickly walked out of the cave, torch still in hand. Agro and the white mare greeted me outside, though both looked utterly tired. Agro appeared healthier, no longer half-starved, and ready to perform Wanderer's will…Just like he looked before this journey. I smiled and gently stroked the stallion's muzzle again, telling him to go back into the cave and rest for the journey ahead. He obeyed as if I were his master. The white mare looked ready to protest as I mounted her, but I promised her that we would rest for longer because of this incident. If it meant we would sleep until midday, then so be it.

We rode a little distance away from the cave whither Wanderer laid. I murmured another incantation so that our tracks would not be found by him when the sun rose. We found another cave not as deep as his, and we slept there, awaiting Wanderer's next move.

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When midday came, I finally managed to open my eyes. The anxiety of prior events and the weariness of using black magic had fatigued me so much that I could have slept for days. But there was no more time to recuperate. No matter how much my muscles hurt and screamed in pain, I had to get moving.

The white mare was already awake when I pulled myself up to the seated position. She was trotting around our cavern, eager to start out after Wanderer. I had to stop myself from laughing at this transition of behaviors. At first, she did not want to go. Then she did not want to travel for long periods of time. Now she cannot wait to go. My mare was very peculiar.

I ate something quickly before we set off on Wanderer's trail once more. Having knowledge of exactly how close we were to him put my restless spirit at ease. Even if I could not join him directly on his mission, I could still keep an eye on him and assist him indirectly. In my heart and mind, I had accepted that bringing Devin back was something Wanderer desired to accomplish alone with Agro, and that he would not appreciate me coming to assist. That hurt for me to think about, but I knew it as truth and could not do a thing to change it.

My original mission had changed.

I would not catch up to Wanderer and aid him in accomplishing Dormin's tasks…

Instead, I would stay in the background and watch him, helping only when it was necessary.

Would it ever be necessary?

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Devin went to heaven…

She's just another soul about to be Wanderer's again…Maybe…

Emon wanted us to leave her, and for the gods to receive her…

It was beyond our control to save her…

But who is to know if we'll meet her again?

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_Devin  
Won't go to heaven  
She's just another lost soul,  
About to be mine again  
Leave her  
We will receive her  
It is beyond your control  
Will you ever meet again_

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_A/N: Well, that's the end of another chapter. I want to thank FreelancerSealBoy for being the first person to review this story. And, by the way, your story is good, too. The lyrics shone above in italics belong to Disturbed. The song is, "Inside the Fire." That is the significance of the title of this story being the same thing and the girl being named Devin. What do you think of that?_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Chapter 4, coming right up! Sorry that I haven't updated this story in awhile...But it's not like a lot of people are reading it, or any of my other stories...Only a handful of people are reviewing any of my stories. Is it because I was gone for so long? Is this payback for leaving you out in the cold? Well, I'm sorry. Please don't give me the cold shoulder...Please read on._

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Chapter 4

Wanderer was much easier to follow than before, now that I could see exactly where he was. But this also made it harder to keep my presence hidden from him. If he turned around at the wrong time, he would see that he was being followed and come after me. I would not be able to outrun him. He would catch me, and demand to know why I had tracked him down. Then whither would I be?

I maintained a reasonable distance so that I could see him, but he would have trouble seeing me. Starting a fire at night became leisure, for I did not want to give away any signs of my existence to Wanderer. I wanted him to believe he was the only human in these lands. I might have ruined that by healing Wanderer and Agro previously, but I could not have left them for dead. They were my friends. They had been there for me ever since they first came to our village. Even when the rest of the village labeled me an outcast, Wanderer was thither for me.

We moved closer to the Forbidden Lands. Within five days of the third moon from the day that I began my journey, I could look upon the top of an ancient shrine that must have been in those cursed lands. Soon, Wanderer and I would come across Dormin and discover what he was really made of.

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The landscape suddenly began to change. The wilderness was no longer the only substance dominating the area. There were more stones with a green tint to them lying around, looking as though they had once belonged to ancient buildings. They couldn't have possibly been carved by the gods. The gods are almighty, but the designs on these green stones were not imperfect—the designs were slightly flawed in some areas. But I believed they were still intricately done by the human hand.

No one had lived in the lands Wanderer and I had traveled across. However, people had once lived in the Forbidden Lands, and thither they were sure to have worshipped the gods thither as well. So these beautiful stone works did not belong to the natural world…But to the lost lands of a world prohibited to humans by Emon. That meant we were getting much closer to Dormin, Wanderer more than I. Then his impossible mission would truly begin.

I stopped traveling when the sky became dark with clouds and took refuge underneath one of those old stone arches which must at one time been part of a bridge. Though weathered and broken, it appeared sturdy enough on the boulder it rested upon, and hardly any rain came down upon the white mare and me. Yes, it was storming. Thither was no way anyone could safely travel in those gusts of wind and the curtains of rain that pelted down on the Earth, anyway. Wanderer and Agro would be forced to halt as well, lest be soaked to the bone and catch their deaths, not to mention what a devastating effect it could have on Devin's corpse if she were to be caught in it. Yes, Wanderer would have surely found a place to rest and avoid the elements by now.

Having time to rest earlier than expected, I leaned against the boulder and slid down until I was in the seated position. The white mare came over to me and laid down beside me. I gingerly stroked her muzzle as my hand grasped a carrot in one of the saddlebags, and then the carrot became her snack. She devoured it happily, and I couldn't help but smile at how she found joy in something as simple as food.

She had been by my side since before Devin was gone. Even when I pushed her to her limits, she remained faithful. No matter how hard I drove her, no matter how much pain I forced her to endure, no matter how far I made her travel…She never turned on me. She was as loyal to me as Agro was to Wanderer.

A mare this loyal deserved a name. I should have realized this before, but I was too blind-sighted by my own worries and by Wanderer. Now was the perfect opportunity.

"What shall I call thee, my friend?" I inquired, stroking her muzzle as I pondered this simple question.

Not just any name would do for my mare. She was unique among all the horses I had ever known. Her name must be as unique as her and as lovely as her spirit. But whither would I find such a wonderful name? Surely my mind could not conjure up something so magnificent. How would I know the perfect name?

Suddenly, it struck me. The perfect name. Well, at least in my opinion.

"How would you like to have the name Amethyst bestowed upon you?" I asked.

The mare seemed to consider it for a moment. Then she whinnied her reply, sounding as if she agreed that it was a good name. I smiled, glad that I would no longer have to refer to her as 'the white mare' anymore.

"Rest now, Amethyst, my friend," I told her, yawning. "Tomorrow, if the gods grant it, we shall journey once more. Perhaps we will be in the Forbidden Lands before nightfall."

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_A young girl, no older than twelve, walked outside of the house that she and her older sister lived in. Their parents had passed away of a disease a few years earlier, and they had no other relatives. They had to live alone without adults, but the villagers were kind and aided them in living._

_But the girl never felt accepted by those her age. They condoned her for reasons she had no knowledge of, and it hurt her to see them treat her this way. She did not understand what they disliked about her. Those older than her thought she was a lovely blonde with a kind heart full of grief from her parents' deaths. But the children close to her age did not think the same way. And they enjoyed to show their hate of her any chance they had._

_This particular day, a group of her peers consisting of four boys and one girl approached her, each carrying a sack filled with some object the girl did not know of. The girl gulped, but remained passive as to keep her fear from bring seen by these enemies. She went to walk away from them, but the group followed her wherever she went. Irate, she tried to lose them in the forest, but they remained on her trail. Eventually, they had her cornered, her back against a stone ledge she was too short to climb. The group of hecklers laughed and sneered at their cornered prey._

"_Thought you could lose us, did you? We're not as stupid as you think," one of the boys stated, pulling something out of the sack he carried. It was a jagged stone. "To be sure, we are much smarter than __**you**__, Freak!"_

"_Thither is no place left to run, Dunce!" another of the boys hissed, copying his companion's action. "We've got you now!"_

"_Stone, stone in my hand...Who's blood is about to mingle with the land?" the other two boys sang, dancing stupidly around the girl in a semicircle. "The freak's, of course!"_

_A barrage of stones came raining down on the defenseless little girl, who feebly tried to block the rocks being tossed at her with her arms. Many of the rocks cut her skin, making her bleed. Others were just blunt hits that would eventually cause bruises. Tears began to run down her face as she realized thither was no escaping this attack. Pain shot through her from her numerous injuries, and her knees buckled underneath her._

_The group of hecklers soon ran out of ammo. The girl in the group approached the fallen blonde, gracefully stepping over the rocks that had caused so much pain for the victim. She grabbed the injured girl by her long blonde hair and pulled her to her feet with the intent to inflict as much pain as possible. The child bit her tongue in order to keep herself from crying out in pain. The girl pulling her hair smirked at the tears in her eyes._

"_Not so pretty now, are you, Freak?" she sneered, venom dripping from her voice. "Now perhaps everyone shall see you for what you really are."_

_The girl pushed the child up against the stone ledge with as much force as she could muster. It hurt the child, but the girl obviously did not care. This was meant to injure the child. The girl then punched her in the stomach, causing the child excruciating pain, and she ended up coughing up blood all over the place. Although the girl received a nice coating of the blood, she smiled sinisterly at this._

"_This village is much better without your existence, pathetic wench! You're such a freak! You should have died with your parents!" the girl hissed. "Then we wouldn't have to deal with you conversing with yourself and ruining the order of our people! You act so much like a boy! The boys are disgusted by you, and the girls hate you! The adults' compliments and comforting words are lies! They think of you as a freak as well! Today, we shall rid you and your cursed existence from our village!"_

_As she spoke those words, one of the boys produced a noose. The child eyed it warily, fearing that it was intended for her neck. The girl who was abusing her took it from him and glanced back at the child._

"_Any last words, Freak?"_

_The child thought it over for a moment. Then she opened her mouth._

"_You do not persecute me for the reasons you have just named, Kasara. You and your friends do these things to me because you are envious of the attention I receive from the elders," the child said. "They treat me with respect and the love my parents can no longer give. In your eyes...In your corrupt minds and hearts...It seems I could get anything I desired from them. But you think me a freak because I do not abuse this respect the elders have for me. If you were me, you would have spoiled yourself long ago. But I am pure at heart and kind in soul, something the rest of you envy and are jealous of. Although I may converse with myself because my parents are dead and dress and act like a boy, I am still better off than anyone else in this village...Friends or no. It is better to be alone...than to befriend the wrong people."_

_Kasara growled at this, but then smirked once more as she put the noose around the child's throat. "Nicely chosen. Now I will have more joy in wringing your neck than before. Prepare to die, Freak!"_

_She began to strangle the child. Breathing became harder and harder, and the child was forced to gasp in order to receive any air. Her heart started to race as her airways became too restricted for anyone's good, and she felt dizzy. She knew the end was near, especially when all four of the boys joined in to assist Kasara. The lightheaded feeling finally consumed the child, and she lost consciousness._

_But, just a few moments before everything became dark, she heard shouts from someone else, and felt the loosening of the noose. Perhaps she wouldn't wake up in heaven. Perhaps this stranger, whoever he might have been, had saved her just in time. But thither was no way of knowing until she was strong enough to regain consciousness._

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_The child came to herself after some time had passed. She groaned as she pulled herself up into the seated position and glanced around at her surroundings. She was still in the forest, but no longer was she against what would have been her death stone. Instead, she had been lying beside a fire. A man of about the age of eighteen sat across from her with an ebony stallion beside him, watching her. She did not recognize the man—he appeared to be a foreigner. His hair was brown and his eyes were the bluest ones she had ever seen._

"_...Wh-Who are you...?" the child grumbled, holding her aching head in her hands. "And whither...Whither are those who attacked me?"_

_The man took a moment to reply. "...I have no name that your people can pronounce. The people of your village tend to call me Wanderer. You may call me by that name. And as to the locations of your attackers, they are being punished by their parents. You need not fear them any longer." He leaned in closer to her, and he seemed to be studying her as if she were an ancient scroll. "What might I call you, little one?"_

"_...My name...is Liliane," the girl told him, speaking softly because it hurt to talk any louder than a whisper._

"_Why did those children attack you? Why did they attempt to kill you?" Wanderer wanted to know. Liliane found his voice to be kind and strong, even though he himself spoke no louder than her._

"_...Because they think me a freak. They loathe me because the elders respect my compassionate heart and silent actions...All the children my age hate me," Liliane murmured, tears escaping her eyes. "I'm a freak to them just because I speak to the dead and dress like a boy. They believe I'm ruining the order of our village by acting like the other gender. I just don't like to wear dresses, that's it. And my parents died. Does that make me such a freak that I have to be slain like a traitor? Apparently...That is what all of my peers think..."_

_Liliane broke off into sobs, unable to hold in her pain any longer. She wept as silently as possible, hiding her face from Wanderer, for she was ashamed of weeping, especially in front of people. Wanderer did not say a word; he was so quiet that Liliane thought he had left her. But then she felt someone wrap their arms around her shoulders and pull her into a tight embrace, and she knew right away that it was Wanderer holding her._

"_You are not a freak, little one. You are a beautiful young girl who is hurting on the inside. If the other children cannot see past your flaws, then they are blind...Blinded by their own greed and corruption. Do not let those brats get to you. Break away from the ordinary and find your own path through life," he breathed in my ear. "...And allow me to be your guide on that path."_

"_What do you mean by that?"_

"_I'm almost certain those children will attack you again. If you desire your life, allow me to teach you how to defend yourself with sword, bow, and fist. Then perhaps...You will have a fighting chance of keeping your life out of their hands."_

"_...All right...But you are going to have to watch over me for awhile...At least, until I learn how to defend myself."_

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I awoke from that memory near midday. Amethyst was already awake as usual, trotting about our makeshift shelter. The rain had stopped flooding the land—now only a light sprinkling remained. Anyone could ride in that. So, unless the gods decided to take their fury out on the earth again, we would be in the Forbidden Lands by the time the sun would sink beneath the horizon.

My morning meal was small but sufficient, and I ate it quickly. Eager was I to begin the day's journey after Wanderer. But there was something else I needed to do before I pursued him. A woman needs to be clean, and I hadn't had that leisure for a while (disgusting, isn't it; well, there weren't showers back then). Thither was a lake nearby. That would be sufficient enough for me.

"I shall return in a little bit, Amethyst," I told my horse as I pulled out some clean clothes from a saddlebag. "Do not go anywhere until I come to you, all right?"

Amethyst whinnied in an uninterested manner, as if she really didn't care what I did. She went back to trotting around as to pass the time. I left her to her running.

The lake was not as vast or as beautiful as the Lake of the Goddess. To be candid, it was one of the smallest lakes I had ever laid eyes upon. But it would serve the purpose I required it for, no matter how minuscule it was.

Quickly, I glanced around the lake for any sign that Wanderer or Agro were nearby. Satisfied that I was completely alone, I laid my clean clothes on a large stone and slid out of my gown. I glanced around again, just to be safe, and then walked into the cool waters of the lake.

I made the bath go as quick as possible, not wanting to be caught by Wanderer like this. At this moment, I was most vulnerable not only to being caught, but also to humiliating myself. You see, like most teenage girls in your time, I was very self-conscious and worried about my body. If anyone would have seen me right now, I would have perhaps screamed and, in the words of your people, kicked his ass!

Once I was surely clean enough that I would not have a revolting smell, I returned to the stone and grabbed my clean gown. It was a dark blue gown, the color of the ocean waters, with a strange design embroidered into the fabric with light green, pink, and violet thread. I had worn it during my training to become a priestess, but it was now just a garment to me. I put it on and slipped into my shoes when I heard a sound that made me hide.

"Agro! Slow down!"

Wanderer was riding upon Agro's back, and the black stallion was charging towards the lake's edge. I forced myself to remain calm as I made certain there would be no trace of my presence. As long as he didn't see me, I would be safe. I hid behind the stone where out of his sight and grabbed my dirty clothing so Wanderer would not see them and wonder where the owner of the garments was.

I heard the sound of Agro's hooves coming closer and closer. Then I heard a splash as the horse charged into the water, for he did not slow down like his master had told him to do. Wanderer laughed because his horse had caused him to become soaked through. A thought suddenly crossed my mind. Water would not be good for preserving a corpse. If Devin were also upon Agro's back, then the water could damage her body. Was she there?

Gathering up all of the courage I could muster, and glanced around the side of the stone. Only Wanderer and Agro were there. Devin's corpse body was somewhere else. Evidently, Wanderer was not a fool enough to bring her to the lake. Smart man.

Agro drank from the lake's surface, still appearing as healthy as he had after I healed him. Wanderer, too, seemed as healthy as his horse. I could see him staring at his reflection with a look of wonderment on his face, as if he still couldn't believe he was ill no longer. Would he ever realize why he had recovered so quickly? Perhaps not, and perhaps him not knowing was for the better. But he showed no signs of being ungrateful as he filled his wineskin with water and remounted Agro. He glanced out into the distance like he was searching for something, and I thought he might have been looking right at me.

"Soon," he whispered to himself. "Soon…We shall be in the lands…whither all things will change."

Then he took off once again, leaving me alone to contemplate his words.

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The sun was still high in the sky when Amethyst and I entered lands untouched by human civilization for countless moons. I was nearly unaware of the transition—I was too deep in thought. But the moment Amethyst began trotting on green stone similar to that I had seen before, I knew we were in the Forbidden Lands.

We crossed into them on a long bridge that could have never been made by human hands unless done over several centuries. This bridge I speak of was attached to a huge temple of similar coloring and slightly eroded. I wondered what kinds of rituals were performed in such a magnificent shrine—it dwarfed my village's main temple with ease. Was it a place of heresy, or was this place a holy sanctuary?

Thither was only one way to find out.

Amethyst and I reached the end of the bridge, whither the temple and bridge met. A huge stone door separated us from Dormin and the rest of the Forbidden Lands. Call it the rebellious teenage spirit, but I desired to travel on these lands that Emon prohibited my village from coming to. I desired to walk on the dirt and be able to rub it in Emon's face that he had no control over me. I desired to disobey the laws that Emon and his priests had set for my village.

The door magically opened on its own for us. It was both intriguing and frightening, but I managed to swallow my fear and urged Amethyst inside. A long winding path unfolded before us, leading down to a small pool of water. Just looking down made my head spin, but fortunately I was not afraid of heights. Amethyst lead me down without me experiencing too much of a lightheaded feeling.

Then she led me into a vast empty room bathed in sunlight. On either side of this room, eight massive idols sat, staring down at me with sadistic eyes. All sixteen of these stone monuments depicted some sort of creature that must have been significant at one point in history, each one different from the others. I wondered what their purpose in this temple once was.

Three staircases were at the end of this room. Two of the staircases led outside to the Forbidden Lands. The other set led up to an altar on a balcony. Something about that altar called out to me, drawing me towards it. I didn't understand what was compelling me to dismount Amethyst and walk over to the altar's side. But I soon found out.

Devin's uncovered corpse lay peacefully on the fluorescent stone, looking as though she were just sleeping. Just laying eyes upon her made me feel like weeping. This meant that Wanderer had already passed by, and had accepted the mission Dormin had set before him. I wasn't fast enough to catch him conversing with Dormin. Oh well…

Amethyst whinnied suddenly while I stared at my dead sister. I turned around to see several dark shadow figures appear from the ground, looking ghastly and evil. My heart raced as fear threatened to consume me. My hand instinctively grasped the sword in which I had brought with me, even though I was sure these creatures would not fall to steel. I murmured an ancient incantation meant to ward off evil, trusting my fate to some ancient spell that may not even work.

But it did.

All of the shadow creatures disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. The only sign that they had once been there was the uneven beating of my heart. It accelerated even more when a loud voice boomed overhead:

"_**Why have thou come hither?"**_

I glanced up at the ceiling, only to discover that the voice came from a huge circular hole in the ceiling. The voice had both a male and female tone, acting as one. So, this was Dormin. Hearing it for the first time unexpectedly startled me, but I quickly regained my composure.

"I have come hither because my friend is seeking your assistance in reviving my dead sister," I told Dormin the deity. "He believes that you have access to the spiritual realms, and if he completes a task for you…that you shall restore life to Devin, the girl with the cursed fate. Is this true? Are you Dormin?"

A few moments of silence passed.

"_**That is correct. We are Dormin. Wanderer is performing the task of which thou speak in return for the soul of the cursed maiden. But why have thou come hither? Thou hath no role in Wanderer's task. Thou are just a maiden."**_

"…I have no role anywhere in this world. Wanderer and the deceased…Devin…They are my only friends…They are the closest things I have to a real family," I explained. "Without them, I am no one. I followed Wanderer hither to see if he really could bring my sister back…and to see if you were real. But I have no place in life. Wanderer is my life. That is why I came hither, into your lands."

"…_**Thou are outcast, We see. But why do thou not wish to be seen by thee she followed?"**_

"He left me in the dark about this whole thing. If he sees me, he shall be cross and will not be able to focus on the task you have set out for him. I do not desire to distract him."

"_**Very well. We shall not reveal thou to Wanderer. But do thou desire to know Wanderer's task?"**_

"If that would not be too much of a hassle."

"_**Those idols that align the walls…They are Wanderer's task. Wanderer must destroy all sixteen of these idols that cannot be destroyed by the mortal hand. For each idol, thither is a colossus, which is the idol's incarnation. In order to destroy the idols, Wanderer must slay the colossi, and that shall not be a simple task."**_

"Wanderer has to slay colossi? But it's impossible to find the weak points on monsters that huge! How shall he know whither to strike?"

"_**The sword used to sacrifice the cursed maiden...It is no ordinary sword. When raised to the light, the sword shall reveal the vitals of the colossi."**_

"Whither is Wanderer now?"

"_**Wanderer battles the first colossus now."**_

"Shall you show me the way so that I may watch my friend?"

"_**Why? Do thou desire to assist Wanderer in his task?"**_

"…Indirectly…I wish to help him."

"_**Then raise thy sword to the light. It shall guide you to him, for We have bestowed a similar power to thy sword as the one Wanderer wields."**_

I lifted my sword out of its hilt. Such enough, the beams of light hitting it all seemed to gather in one place when I held it to the sunlight. Evidently, that was whither I would find Wanderer.

"Thank you, Dormin," I murmured as I remounted Amethyst.

Then I rode out into the Forbidden Lands to watch my friend slay a colossus.

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Devin…was rendered unwhole by Emon and his priests when she was a little child…

And I was rendered unwhole by my peers…

But Devin was taken…and then forsaken by her people…

I will remember it all as it fills my mind again…

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And to Wanderer, Dormin said that if Wanderer accomplished the impossible task that They would bring Devin back from beyond the portal of the spirit world…

And Wanderer took the word from one immortal…

He gave his soul to Dormin…For eternity…

Wanderer would release his life to begin another time with her…

Hither he'll end his grief with Dormin…There is no other way.

Wanderer would release his life to pull her out of the fire…or take his place inside the fire with her…

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_Devin  
One of eleven  
Who had been rendered unwhole  
As a little child,  
She was taken  
And then forsaken  
You will remember it all  
Let it fill your mind again  
_

_Devin lies beyond this portal  
Take the word of one immortal  
Give your soul to me  
For eternity  
Release your life  
To begin another time with her  
End your grief with me  
There's another way  
Release your life  
Take your place inside the fire with her_

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_A/N: What do you think of this chapter? I think it was strange, but I don't think my opinion counts on this. Once again, the lyrics belong to Disturbed's song, "Inside the Fire." I do not own it. Whatever you think, I want to know. So please review, and ignore the author's note above. I was feeling depressed when I typed it._


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Apparently, my own country doesn't like this story. Canada readers are kicking America's ass right now. Keep up the good work! And my thanks to FreelancerSealBoy for reviewing me for the third time. You're awesome compared to everyone else (and no, I'm not a stalker). Let's continue on with the story, shall we?_

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Chapter 5

The Forbidden Lands were so beautiful…

In some places, deserts of sand and very little life rolled over the hills, the sand shining in the intense sunlight like a bronze lake. In other places, huge forests rose in the air, providing shade underneath their vast canopies. And then there were swamps, oases, grasslands, and other beautiful lands in this mysterious world. I say world because this seems to be too beautiful and unusual to be from the world I know.

But I did not have the chance to explore at the moment, for I was riding to Wanderer's battleground, whither he fought a monster so huge it had received the fitting name of colossus. I would not be seen by him, but if he seemed to need help, I'd be thither.

Amethyst and I came upon ground that we could not conquer together. We now sat in a large gully with cliffs as tall as mountains (major exaggeration) surrounding us. There was some moss up the side of one of the cliffs, but I did not know if it was strong enough for me to climb up it. Why would I wish to scale something as big as a mountain? Wanderer was fighting above, or so my sword told me.

I dismounted Amethyst and walked over to the moss, passing Agro along the way. The ground beneath us shook violently, making it extremely hard to get from one place to the other. Even Amethyst struggled to remain on her feet. I myself toppled over a few times before reaching the moss-covered cliff. I grasped it, and surprisingly it was more than strong enough for me. And so began my ascent to watch Wanderer slay the colossus whom was causing the earth to tremble.

Once I reached the top of the cliff, I was still not at the battleground of Wanderer and the colossus. The cliff gently sloped upward, making a path towards the other side. The cliff was eroded in some areas, which would require me to jump to get places. Thither was even a spot whither I would have to move around while grasping the edge of a stone in order to reach the next broken piece of the cliff. It was difficult, but I managed to get to whither I wanted to go.

If I thought it was hard to stand on the ground down below, then it was impossible to stand up hither whither the battle was taking place. The earth trembled so much that my feet were knocked out from underneath me before I could get far. I forced myself to roll over to a large boulder nearby so I would not be seen, and then gaped at the monster that stood before me.

The colossus that Wanderer was fighting was much more massive than mountains. It was made mostly of stone, but fur also lay on this beast. Its head bore a resemblance to that of a bear, but its legs and feet were that of a hoofed creature, and it had hands similar to a human's, only made of stone. A giant stone club was in its right hand—the club alone could destroy an entire village if dropped. The fur grew from the backs of the bear colossus' legs, its back, and its head. The rest of its body was stone and looked as if they had been carved from the mountainsides. Three platforms also sprouted from its back.

_How can Wanderer be expected to slay something that huge?_ I thought, screaming in my head and doubting the abilities of my friend. _This is suicide! This shall be the death of him!_

But then I caught a glimpse of my friend running at the colossus while its back was turned. Wanderer ran straight for its leg, the sacred sword from our village in hand. A blue spot shone on the colossus's left leg, indicating a weak point. Wanderer jumped and held onto the fur on the back of that leg, and he climbed up to the location that would cause the colossus to fall to its knees.

The colossus would not stand for this. It felt something on its leg, and began to shake it in an attempt to rid itself of the pest whom was on it. Wanderer held on for his life as the monster violently tried to force him to let go, and I watched in horror as my friend was tossed around like a leaf in a windstorm. I feared that he would drop from the colossus and be crushed.

But the colossus stopped shaking its leg for a moment, giving Wanderer enough time to reach the weak point. He lifted the sword over the weak point, and then jabbed it down into the colossus. Black blood shot out of the small vital, and the air filled with the screams of agony from the injured colossus as it fell to its knees. To see it agonized from a small vital being severed made me wonder how it would react to the larger vitals being attacked.

Wanderer jumped onto the back of the bear colossus while it was down and began his ascent up towards the head of the beast. He barely reached the first platform on its back when the monster managed to stand up again. It shook itself even more violently than before, threatening to make Wanderer fall off the end of the platform. My friend quickly grabbed a hold of the fur once more, and was tossed around again. But the colossus couldn't shake forever—it stopped every now and then to hiss in pain from its leg wound. Wanderer would take advantage of that and climb higher, passing up the last two platforms—they were right beside each other with a big gap in between that Wanderer could climb up through—and heading straight for the head.

As he neared it, a large blue insignia began to glow on the top of the colossus's head. It was much bigger than the one on the leg, proving to be the most important vital the colossus had. If Wanderer could sever that, then the colossus would surely die.

The shakings became more violent, and the colossus's eyes never stayed sky blue for long. They always shifted back to fiery orange before I was aware that they had been peaceful for a moment. This meant that the beast knew it was about to die, and was trying to stop it at all costs. But Wanderer was too close to victory to be shaken off that easily. He made it to the head, held the sword above the huge vital, and stabbed down.

The colossus roared in pain, causing me to cover my ears from the intensity of its voice. Black blood shot out of its head like a geyser. It still lived, but Wanderer was quick to change that. He stabbed the vital a few more times until finally the colossus's eyes went dim and it no longer tried to shake him off. The corpse of the colossus collapsed to the ground, and Wanderer held onto the fur on its head so that he would not hurt himself on the way down.

Once the beast was dead and on the ground, Wanderer jumped off and headed in the direction that I had just climbed up a while ago. Meanwhile, the colossus was becoming enveloped in darkness for some reason that was unknown to me. Wanderer was unaware of this…Until black streams of darkness shot out of the colossus and into him. I gasped as Wanderer collapsed from those things going into him, and I did not know if he lived or was unconscious. Quickly, I rushed over to his side and checked his heartbeat to see if it was still thither. It was, but its pace was irregular.

"Dormin, why are you doing this to him? What are you doing to him?" I wondered aloud.

I had not expected a reply, so I was surprised when I heard the voice and felt an eerie presence that came when Dormin spoke.

"_**He desires the cursed maiden…We desire something much stronger than the task We have set before him,"**_Dormin stated. _**"But thou cannot be told the truth, or else everything shall be put in jeopardy. Trust Us-Wanderer shall not suffer much. Worry no more about him…Be concerned for the well-being of thou self. We shall take care of Wanderer, and if thou desires, We shall take care of thou."**_

"…Thank you for the offer…But I do not need to be looked after. I shall find my own way of living off the land," I told Dormin. "But thank you for the offer. Just make sure nothing too horrible falls upon Wanderer's life…Please."

"_**We cannot make such a promise, young one. Death is something We cannot prevent from happening when Wanderer is battling the colossi. We are regretful, but We cannot grant Wanderer's wish without Wanderer completing the task. What transpires shall transpire, whether thou like it or no."**_

"I understand. Just do what you can."

"_**We shall try. But now it is time for thou to return to Our shrine. We shall transport the both of thou. Be prepared, young one."**_

Before I could respond, I felt myself rise in the air and carried at the speed of light. Everything raced past me in a blur. Only Wanderer's limp body remained clear to me. This was evidently the kind of transport Dormin spoke of. It was quick and efficient, I suppose, if one was not fearful of heights.

Dormin was kind enough to drop me lightly onto my feet. Wanderer was placed gently onto the ground like he was a precious artifact that must not be trifled with. That accursed sword was still in his hand, glistening in the sunlight with a hellish blue glow. How I wanted to destroy that sword and rid it from this world for all eternity because of what it had been used for. But Wanderer required it for his mission; I could not jeopardize it just because everything felt wrong about the sword. I would just have to deal with it.

A dark figure stood beside Wanderer's body. It was one of those who had appeared out of the ground when I first came hither. But this time it posed no threat—it only looked over Wanderer's still body with its invisible eyes. I wondered why thither was only one of them when there had been many more before.

The eerie presence came back, causing me to shiver. Dormin was back.

"_**Go now…Wanderer shall awaken soon…,"**_ Dormin informed me.

Amethyst appeared behind me, as if from out of nowhere. I mounted her and prepared to leave when I heard an extremely loud noise that made me stop and cover my ears. The first idol on the right glowed bright enough to blind a person. But then it collapsed in many pieces whither it once stood. The dark figure standing over Wanderer disappeared at the same time. After witnessing this, I took refuge back near the pool of water, knowing I could never get out of hither before Wanderer awoke.

I heard Dormin speak once more, and this time it was now to Wanderer. Dormin was telling Wanderer a riddle about his next foe. Did Dormin expect my friend to slay two colossi in one day? Was Dormin out of its mind? But then I heard Dormin instruct Wanderer to rest a few days before heading after this new enemy. Evidently, Dormin did know when a human had been pushed to his limits. Then the eerie presence that was Dormin faded away. Wanderer called for Agro, who was amazingly nearby. Then he mounted Agro and rode off into the Forbidden Lands, perhaps in search of food.

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Amethyst raced out of the Shrine of Worship some time after Wanderer and Agro had left. I strode out slowly and cautiously, searching for any sign of my friend so I would not be seen. My horse and I would go separate ways so that we would not be so conspicuous to Wanderer. If he saw Amethyst, he would presume that the land had a herd somewhere he hadn't seen yet, and that she had just strayed from the group. But no matter if he saw me with or without the horse, he would question what a human, or me in particular, was doing in this prohibited lands. I would have to lay low, in the words of people in your time.

I walked around the Shrine of Worship with me bow slung over one shoulder and a quiver of arrows on the other. My sword was sheathed and on my hip, just in case thither was something out hither that an arrow could not penetrate. I was searching food not only for myself, but for Wanderer as well. I still had some left over from my journey, but I doubted that Wanderer was that fortunate. He would need whatever assistance he could receive, but I did not think that Dormin considered providing food for Wanderer as a necessity. It would be so like a deity to forget the most important aspects of a human life.

There were a few fruit trees hither and thither, but the actual fruit each tree provided was very sparse. I shot down a few pieces from each tree, planning on sharing some with Amethyst, and Agro if I met him by himself again, like I had when Wanderer was battling the first colossus. I was certain that Wanderer would enjoy the sweetness of nature's bearings after having to eat meat for so many moons. I myself found it to be a wonderful treat, and I had not just eaten meat for my whole journey.

Not many animals were in these lands. Sure, thither were birds, lizards, and a few turtles, but no grazing animals seemed to be around these Forbidden Lands. It must have been due to the long and thin bridge that it was impossible for a herd to cross and no grazing animal could reach these beautiful lands. The birds could have easily flown in. As for the turtles and lizards…they must have been natives. I killed a handful of the black lizards, but left the turtles alone, for I did not like to hurt them.

I did not stray far from the Shrine of Worship for two reasons. Traveling too far from the shrine would put me at a greater risk of being caught by Wanderer. Also, if I went too far, I might have encountered a colossus. Unlike Wanderer, I did not believe I could slay these creatures. They would crush me before I could even scream, more than likely.

On my hunting trip, I discovered that thither were more shrines than the Shrine of Worship. The others were much, much smaller, meant for one to offer a small prayer or make a small sacrifice. But they were still magnificent. All of these small shrines looked exactly the same, so whoever crafted them was a brilliant architect.

There was a gap in each shrine whither one could hide and stay for awhile. Sure, it was a bit cramped, but I could make do with that. After all, I could not risk staying in the Shrine of Worship when Wanderer would be there most of his day. He would be sure to catch me then. I had to find a different place of refuge. One of the smaller shrines would do until I could scout out a safe location free of colossi and out of the way of Wanderer. Amethyst could wander and find somewhere else to sleep until I could find a place.

I whistled for Amethyst to come to me, for she still had my saddlebags on her. I just hoped that Agro would not think it was Wanderer and come charging. Even if Wanderer were on his back, he had been trained to come at the sound of a whistle, as had Amethyst. If Agro came, I would surely be caught.

Luckily, only Amethyst came. I unloaded her of everything save the saddle and put my belongings in various shrines. Otherwise, I would have been forced to overstuff one shrine, and that would not be inconspicuous. Wanderer would most certainly go by that and discover that someone else was in the Forbidden Lands, and after some rummaging he would know exactly who that person was. So I did the logical thing and separated my belongings so it would be less conspicuous. Sure, I would have to walk from shrine to shrine to retrieve some objects I required for living, but I wouldn't mind too much.

"All right, Amethyst," I said, stroking her muzzle. "You and I cannot be together for awhile, my friend. Not until I can find us a real makeshift home. I apologize for the inconvenience, but you are going to have to find your own means of a resting place at night. I shall call for you when I find a place for us to stay that is free of colossi and out of Wanderer's way."

Amethyst whinnied to let me know that she understood. Now I removed the saddle from her back so that she would look like a wild horse and not some horse lost from civilization. She looked at me strangely, perhaps feeling awkward without a saddle since she had worn one for so long. I kissed her on the forehead and bid her farewell.

And then she was off again.

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I returned to the Shrine of Worship with the bearings of my hunt. Wanderer still hadn't come back, so I was safe for the time being. Devin was still unchanged, appearing as beautiful as she had when she was alive. I knew Wanderer would see what I brought for him if I placed it on the ground beside her altar because he was sure to look at her when he came back.

Dormin did not speak to me this time. I was thankful for that. It gave me shivers whenever Dormin came to me. But I would have to deal with it because I was in its lands, and it had complete power.

But something didn't feel right about Dormin.

Thither seemed to be something off about it.

Something evil…

With that thought in mind, I quickly left the Shrine of Worship.

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Wanderer will sever…Now and forever…The vitals of the colossi for this nearly impossible task set before him…

And he will become another lost soul to be Dormin's…

Wanderer and I see Devin…But I do not know if he'll ever free her…

Because in order to do so, he must surrender it all…If he ever wants to meet her again…

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_Sever  
Now and forever  
You're just another lost soul about to be mine again  
See her, you'll never free her  
You must surrender it all  
If you'd like to meet again_

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_A/N: End of chapter, huh? This one was a bit shorter than the others. But I hope you liked it just as much. Whatever you're thinking, I want to know. So please review._


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Here's the next chapter. Sorry that it took so long...I've been on Pogo far longer than I would have liked. Sorry for the huge delay. Here goes nothing._

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Chapter 6

I watched Wanderer slay the second and third colossi over the course of a few days following the killing of the first. The second was huge and walked on four hooves, bearing the face similar to that of a mountain goat. The third was unbelievably tall and had a long, blunt arm that was more than half its height. It had used this arm to try and defeat Wanderer, but had failed and been slain.

But Wanderer was not without his own problems. Being much smaller than what he fought made it easier for him to be injured. He had to rest for a couple of days after killing each colossus, and sometimes he could hardly move for a whole day. I wondered why Dormin did nothing to speed his recovery, but never questioned it. I never liked that eerie presence, and I still felt that there was something evil about Dormin. The less I had to converse with that deity, the best it was for me.

Those tendrils of black that came from the colossi after death entered Wanderer every time he killed one of those mountainous beasts. I desired to know what they were for, but had no way of discovering it. All I knew is that their purpose was as evil as Dormin, and that they had something to do with Dormin's true desires. Wanderer was becoming more aware of what happened to him after slaying a colossus, and tried to outrun it, but always failed. And when he was transported to the Shrine of Worship, another black figure would stand beside the others, only disappearing when the idol fell to pieces. Something was definitely amiss about this whole ordeal…

Something to do with Dormin and its true intentions.

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Often, I wondered if Wanderer knew he was not alone. Thither been many times when I had almost been seen by him, but had somehow managed to escape without being spotted. Amethyst was luckier, for she looked as though she was wild and Wanderer would never suspect her of being mine. I knew she had been seen in the distance by my friend, but it did not matter the least to him.

I traveled slowly through the Forbidden Lands, searching for a shelter whither I could be away from Wanderer and allow Amethyst to stay at my side without the danger of a colossus destroying us. So far, thither was no place just right. Wanderer would travel too near the possible shelter too frequently, the landscape was too treacherous, or the thunderous steps of a colossus would thwart me from finally finding the perfect place. The smaller shrines would provide for now, but Wanderer would also come near those. I cannot tell you how many times I had to tap into the black arts to keep myself hidden from him. I was drained sunrise to sunset most of the time, but fatigue could not stop me from watching my friend. No matter what, I had to make sure he was all right and ready to face the colossi.

He was resting today, the third day since taking down his third colossus. Agro was outside the Shrine of Worship, chewing on some grass growing nearby, giving his master some alone time. Wanderer sat on the ground next to Devin's altar, silently eating a piece of fruit that had 'magically' been delivered to him by me. I watched him from near the small pool of water and the winding staircase, just out of his sight. He seemed preoccupied, as if he were deep in thought. I wondered what my friend could be thinking about, but knew of no spell that could allow me to intrude into his thoughts. I would not have done so, anyway…I would hate it if someone would do that to me.

Suddenly, he spoke. It was not to me, though. It couldn't have been. He had no clue that I was there, as far as I knew. It was not the living to whom he spoke…

Wanderer was speaking to Devin.

"…This is turning out to be more difficult than I had anticipated. And to think, I've only slain three of the colossi required. I've still have a long way to go," Wanderer said. "But, in the end, it'll all be worthwhile, Devin. In the end, you'll be here with me again… Whither you should be. And then we can be together again…The three of us…You, me, and Liliane. We can go and retrieve her from that hellhole that was once your village… Then we can return to my lands, whither we can live happily once again. I'd do anything for you and her, Devin, you know that. Even if I have to receive a thousand injuries, I shall fulfill this task for Dormin so that our future can begin."

Then he stood up and stared at his love. I watched him as he stroked her hair, wishing that I could bring her back myself so that Wanderer would not have to risk his life for hers. I would have given anything at that moment to end my friend's suffering, even if it included sacrificing myself in return for Devin's life. But I couldn't do that, for I had no such powers.

Wanderer whistled for Agro, who came obediently at his master's call. He mounted the stallion and trotted out of the Shrine of Worship. When I was sure he was too far off to see me, I ran out of the shrine after him. I whistled for Amethyst, intent on following my friend to his next destination…

The fourth colossus.

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Wanderer had followed his sword to a grassy area with four identical hills. I had followed him thither, too, upon Amethyst. But she was not with me now. I had left her a little farther back. I did not want the colossus to frighten her and cause her to run into the view of my friend. I'd have enough to worry about without her running about in fear.

The hills were grassy on one side, but the other side was made of stone, with an opening near the center. I concluded that these were tunnels, and that all four hills were connected by those tunnels. What was their purpose?

Agro trotted onward at the urging of his master, towards what looked like a stone pillar. Wanderer had his sword drawn, and he appeared ready for battle. He always seemed that way right before going against a colossus. What if this time the colossus was ready for him, and managed to kill him? What then?

The ground began to shake. Wanderer pulled Agro to a halt as the stone pillar started to move. I struggled to remain standing and had to force myself not to run when I saw the colossus stand. This one had a head similar to that of a horse, with stone chains hanging off its face on either side. Its body was very thin—one could see its rocky ribs. But the legs were not that of a hoofed creature. The legs ended in points. How that colossus could walk on those scrawny things was beyond my understanding. But it towered above us, fixating its blue eyes on Wanderer and Agro.

My friend rode away from the colossus, towards one of the tunnel entrances. The colossus pursued him slowly, as had all the colossi before it. I watched from a distance as he dismounted Agro and jumped into the tunnels. Agro took off as to not be trampled by the colossus, whinnying in fear. Amethyst would have done the same if she were hither with me.

The colossus, out of frustration of losing its target, lifted its front legs high in the air. I fell to the ground as it brought them down several times on the hill that Wanderer had jumped inside of, and I could only imagine what he was enduring with that thing right above him. The shaking of the earth could have caused him to hit his head on something or do something else that would cause a great injury. How would the colossus react when it was being stabbed by the accursed sword? Would the earth shake even worse than when it was angry? Would Wanderer get out of this one alive?

Wanderer appeared from another one of the entrances when the colossus stopped its persistent stomping. He was behind it now, waiting for the right moment to strike. I saw him studying the beast, attempting to find a way onto the creature so he could begin its end. Was there a way to slay this colossus? It looked as though it were completely made of stone. Whither would a vital be on it? A sword cannot penetrate stone, no matter what.

Curious about whither its target was, the colossus lowered its head to look in the original entrance point that Wanderer had used. My friend took advantage of this and ran towards its lowered head. The stone chains hanging off of its face provided the perfect means of climbing up onto the head, and at that moment, they were hanging low enough for Wanderer to jump onto them.

And that is just what he did.

The horse colossus jerked its head up as soon as it saw Wanderer leap onto one of its chains. Wanderer quickly jumped up to the top of the chain before it could begin to shake its head and managed to get to the top of its head. Surprisingly, thither was fur up there for Wanderer to hold onto while he tried to stab the colossus' vital. It shook its head violently, trying to rid itself of the man with the pain-inflicting weapon. The eyes were no longer blue—they were fiery orange as the creature realized that its life was in jeopardy.

Wanderer held on tight as the colossus tossed him around. When the beast stopped for a moment, he had his sword poised above the blue insignia that was the colossus' vital, and then he stabbed down. Black blood spewed from the wound as Wanderer withdrew his sword. The beast screamed in agony, although it would not die for a few more stabbings. The sound was so painful to hear, even though I had heard the same three times before with the other colossi. I whispered something under my breath, praying that the poor colossus would be granted a swift death. I was not heartless—this was a creature of innocence, even if it was trying to kill my friend. I would not praise the gods for its death.

It tried to shake him off again, but Wanderer would not let go. He stabbed the vital when he could, not bothered by the black blood being shot at him as he did so, and held on when he couldn't. The colossus' shaking became worse the closer it came to death, as did its screams of agony. It was almost unbearable for me.

Finally, Wanderer drove his sword into it one last time. The light in the horse colossus' eyes went out as its life slipped from it. The corpse collapsed in a heap of stone, unable to remain standing without life. Wanderer held on until it was safe to let go, not wanting to injure himself after surviving another battle with a colossus. He called for Agro as the horse colossus was enveloped in darkness. The black tendrils were forming rapidly behind Wanderer. He knew it, and that's why he was looking for a quick way out.

Unfortunately, Agro was too slow.

The tendrils went into Wanderer a second before Agro could reach his master. Wanderer fell to the ground, the pain of those unholy things entering him too great for him to remain awake. Agro whinnied in fear, even though this was the second time he'd seen this happen to his master—Agro was nearby when Wanderer faced the second colossus. I was acquainted with this happening to my friend, but I still did not like it.

Dormin returned us to the Shrine of Worship in the blink of an eye. Wanderer's comatose body was surrounded by four dark shadow figures, looking down at him, but completely ignoring me. The idol that had belonged to the fourth colossus glowed brightly, then broke loudly into many pieces. The shadow figures disappeared. This was all routine… except…

Except Wanderer did not wake up like he should have.

Normally, my friend would have arisen right after the idol broke apart. But this time he did not. He remained on the ground, unmoving, looking as if he were dead. The sword was still in his hand, the blue metal reflecting the light sinisterly. It was as if his life were gone because of that damned thing.

I rushed over to Wanderer's side, taking the sword out of his hand and tossing it to the other side of the shrine. His heart still beat, but it was irregular. Everything else about him was fine, considering what he was up against now. Why wasn't he waking up? What ailed Wanderer so much that he could not rise?

"_**Thou next task is…"**_

"He's not awake, you damned deity!" I hissed, glaring up at the hole in the ceiling of the Shrine of Worship. The eerie presence of Dormin made me feel like shuddering, but I was too worried about Wanderer to do so. "Go away! He's not ready for your damned task at the moment! As you can see, he's not even ready to open his eyes! So leave us in peace and wait for him to arise before you dare utter a word about his next task!"

Dormin did not respond at first. They seemed surprised to have been rebuked by a mortal instead of being listened to silently as They should have. But the atmosphere began to shift, and I felt the anger of what had once been a powerful deity.

"_**Thou shall not speak to Us in such a tone! We have knowledge about Wanderer that thou shall never have the power to understand! Do thou think We are blind to the mortal's state of being and mind? We know more than thou shall ever know!"**_

"Then use that knowledge for something other than yourself! You can see that Wanderer is not fit to fight, and yet you persist in telling him his next task! Without this mortal, those colossi would still be alive, and those idols would never have fallen! Leave him be until he awakens once more! Is that too much to ask of you, Oh Damned Deity With No Heart?" Although Dormin's anger did shake me a bit, I was too bitter with Them to back down from the argument.

"_**Watch thou tongue, little mortal wench! We know Wanderer's condition! We know-!"**_

"Yeah, a condition caused by the pain you force him to endure after slaying every colossus!" I snapped. "Even you should be able to see the pain those accursed black tendrils cause him every time they go into him! Thither is only so much he can take! That is the reason why he does not awaken now! He has reached his limit of pain! Leave him be, I say! Leave him be!"

"_**Do not interrupt Us!"**_

The shrine shook with Dormin's anger, but it did not affect me. I always won my arguments because I was too stubborn and get too angry to give into the other person's demands. Dormin was not going to be an exception.

"_**We shall leave thou now, but not because you ordered Us to! We cannot face such a blasphemous wench right now without striking thou down! Beware...We shall not be so kind to thou the next time thou speaks to Us in such a way!"**_

The eerie presence of Dormin faded. I let down my guard, my rage gone completely now that Dormin was no longer present. Wanderer was still unconscious, and he looked worse than I'd ever seen him look before. It seemed that fighting these colossi was draining the life out of him. Did he notice his life slipping away?

A tear fell from my eye, and more followed, as I thought of what my friend was doing. He was going against the odds in hope that this damned deity named Dormin would bring back my sister…and his lover.

But was it really worth it?

Doing this task for Dormin was a life-and-death matter. Even surviving the attacks of the colossi and then being struck by those black tendrils was hurting Wanderer. This whole task was killing him. Everything he did in the Forbidden Lands was having a negative effect on him. Why did he not just give up and forget? Why did he let himself go through all this pain? Why would he not just let the course of life continue and let go of Devin's death?

I knew why.

He'd rather die than let go of Devin. She was his one and only, and he could not live without her. He couldn't complete this task—it was impossible. Thither was no way he could get Dormin to revive her. No mortal could ever complete this task that Dormin had set for him.

But what would be worse for my Wanderer…?

Accepting fate…

Or killing himself in an attempt to change it?

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Fire…All Wanderer desires…In Devin's touch…

But she's already turned cold for the final time…

Wanderer will shiver until he delivers…And finishes the task…

I will remember it all…As it fills my mind again…

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_Fire  
All you desire  
As she begins to turn cold for the final time  
You will shiver  
Til you deliver  
You will remember it all  
Let it fill your mind again_

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_A/n: This chapter was pretty short, but I was running out of ideas and was stuck forever. I'd like to thank FreelancerSealBoy for helping me come up with one. Please review._


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Sorry I took so long. School's in session where I am, so I'm kinda busy with homework and stuff, being a freshman and all. Wish me luck! Anyways, you didn't come here to hear about my life. You came to read. So here it goes!_

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Chapter 7

I left Wanderer when it seemed that he would be awakening soon. Even though I was sure Dormin was pure evil and didn't care what happened to my friend, it wasn't my decision to make for him to continue to pursue his mission. If he couldn't see the evil that was the deity Dormin now, then I'd have to let things unfold without interfering too much. But even when I left, I did not do so lightly. When he awoke, he would see the message I had left for him on the stones.

The message was this: _Is it really worth this, Wanderer? Is bringing Devin back really worth all this pain, or even your life?_

I wouldn't know his response, for I had run off afterwards. I needed to think some things over, and to do that I needed peace. When Wanderer awoke, Dormin would return, and thither would be no peace in the Shrine of Worship. Some place far away from the deity's unholy shrines would be perfect, if one such place existed. It would take some searching, but I had nothing but time for that.

Somehow, Amethyst found me. That was something new—she never came to me unless she heard the sound of my whistle. But perhaps she understood my urgency to reach isolation and her instincts told her whither I was. I did not mind her, she who had been so loyal to me for so long, even when I deserved it not. I wouldn't trade her for any other horse.

Quickly, I mounted Amethyst and she broke into a sprint. She did not need me to tell her whither to go—she knew these lands better than I did, anyway. I let her take me wherever it was that she was running, not caring whether it was to a colossus' sleeping grounds or right off the slide of a cliff. I could care less right now what was happening, because compared to the real world, the things occurring in my head were more important.

Mostly, I was confused by my protective nature over Wanderer. Why did I care so much about him? Sure, we were friends, but even friends aren't that protective of one another. Sure, he saved my pathetic life a few times for those in my village who would have done anything to see me dead, but I had saved his life, too. I knew for sure that I had no feelings for the man like Devin had, so what was wrong with me? Maybe it was because it was my destiny to protect Wanderer from harm, but who was to know besides the gods themselves? Surely not I.

Amethyst led me to the top of a trail—how she got thither was beyond me, for I had not paid attention. Up at the top of this trail was a huge waterfall. One slip and fall into the water would result in death after a long drop. Despite the danger presented by the water, this place seemed peaceful enough. As long as I did not stand near the edge of land, I would be fine. Besides, I would only be hither long enough to think about things that were important to myself and Wanderer.

I dismounted my noble horse and took a seat on the ground. Amethyst, understanding that her mistress needed to be alone, walked away from me and headed back down the trail. She did not go far—I could hear her grazing nearby. But she was not involved in what was going on in my head. So I ignored her, assumed the full-lotus position, and began to meditate like I had been taught to as a priestess-in-training.

While meditating, I took a hard look at myself.

_Who is Liliane?_ I asked myself. _Who was the girl that grew into the woman that you are supposed to be? What is Liliane? What does she feel on the inside? What does she think about everything that has transpired recently? Why did she come hither, to the Forbidden Lands that Emon hadn't wanted anyone to walk upon? Why does she not reveal herself to her friend, whose life is at risk?_

The last question was the most important. But to get thither, the other questions had to be answered. It was only fair to save the most important for last, because otherwise this whole thing would be pointless and fruitless.

_Liliane is a young woman with blonde hair and green eyes. Her heart is good, but not pure, for she has thought evil things before. As a girl, she was innocent and kind, but looked down upon as...weird. A freak. She felt pain that no girl should have grown up feeling. But somehow Liliane grew stronger, and learned to cope with it all. That was probably why she wanted to become a priestess—so she could continue to grow strong and earn respect from the other villagers._

_Liliane was a priestess apprentice once, but left after learning of the ritual sacrificing of her sister. Emon was her teacher, but he was also the murderer of her sister Devin. She was an unwilling wife, beaten and bruised when her brute husband was bitter. She had once been a daughter to two of the greatest people in the world, but a dreadful disease had stolen them away from her. She had once been a sister to the loveliest girl in the village, but a stupid prophecy had resulted in her death. Liliane was once someone with people in her life, but now Liliane is alone._

_The emotions Liliane feels are many. She feels anger towards the deity Dormin for using her friend for Their own evil purposes. She feels sorry and confused at Wanderer's actions, which could result in his death. She feels lost in this world so cruel as to take everything she's ever known and loved away from her. She feels alone. But thither is one feeling that she has yet to express, but has been within her for a long time._

_She loves the fair-haired priest._

At that thought, I blushed. I had not expected my subconscious mind to bring up feelings that did not matter. But it was too late to take back the thought; I would just have to go along with it. My heart's desire had been revealed, and thither was nothing I could do to change that.

_The fair-haired priest that Liliane loves she beat up once to find out whither Wanderer was going. It hurt her to do so, but at the time it seemed necessary. His name was Jaccen, and he had the warmest brown eyes that Liliane had ever seen. From the first moment she laid eyes upon this youth, she was in love. When she heard straight from him that Emon was looking for a suitor for her, she had been crestfallen. Thither was no chance that Emon would marry a priest to a used-to-be-priestess apprentice. It wasn't meant to be. And Liliane missed Jaccen with all her heart, and still does. She hopes that he will pursue her into the Forbidden Lands, because she wants to know if he feels the same way about her._

_Liliane does not know what to think of all that has transpired. She is saddened by the death of her sister, and wants Emon to, in the words of the people of the 21__st__ century, drop dead for killing Devin. She wants for Wanderer to give up on this dangerous mission to bring Devin back, because every time he faces a colossus, she fears for his life. She fears he may be used for evil, but does not have the courage to tell him so._

_She came hither to help a friend try to perform the impossible...The reviving of the dead. Now Liliane is not so sure she should have come. Everything she has seen makes her regret leaving her village, but not so much that she will turn around and head back to that hellhole. She is still around because she wants to be thither when Wanderer needs her and when he slays the last colossus._

_So why doesn't she reveal herself to Wanderer?_

_Liliane is afraid of what he will say. She does not want to face his anger or his questions. But she also doesn't want him to die following some dream that may not come true. Her fear can not hold her down for long if she really desires to save her friend from danger, if it ever comes to that. She needs to do what is right._

_Has Liliane made her decision?_

"Yes," I said, standing up. "I have indeed made my decision."

I whistled for Amethyst, who came running as soon as the sound was made. Within seconds I was on her back, and she was leading me back to the Shrine of Worship. Wanderer was still thither, no doubt about it.

It was time to make my existence known.

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Dormin's evil presence was gone by the time that I arrived at the Shrine of Worship. I could hear Agro trotting about inside the shrine, passing the time without leaving his master. Wanderer was sitting beside Devin's altar on the side facing the sun—my entrance would go unnoticed by him at first for sure. How he got to his current position must have taken a lot of energy.

I left Amethyst outside. She had been reluctant to stay put, for surely she had caught a whiff of Agro's scent and wanted to see him. But with a little persuasion, I was able to keep her from entering. Seeing me would be enough for Wanderer right now; Amethyst would be for a different time.

Silent as a shadow, I slipped into the shrine. No sound echoed throughout the place as I made my way up the stairs—at least, no sound from me. Agro continued to trot, the beat of his hooves on the stone matching the pace of my heartbeat exactly. I was nervous, more nervous than I could ever remember being. I had been hiding in the Forbidden Lands for so long and had never revealed myself to Wanderer. Would he be mad, or would he just be full of questions? Worse still, would he just not say a word?

Hoping against the latter option, I closed the gap between me and Wanderer. Time seemed to pass by so slowly, and my perception of distance seemed off, because no matter how many steps I took, it did not seem to bring me closer to him. Had I made the wrong decision, and this was the way that the gods were advising me against it? I had no way of knowing, but I continued to approach Wanderer. It seemed to be the right thing.

But before I could reach the altar, something unexpected happened.

A voice reached out to me, easily breaking through the barriers of my mind. I hadn't realized thither was something in my head until it began to speak.

"_Do not reveal yourself to him...It is not what is right..."_

The voice was melodic and hinted of a female sender. The message seemed to echo through my head, as if it came from someone of great power or purpose.

_Why? Who are you? Who are you to tell me right from wrong? My friend's life is at stake, and you're intending to tell me that it is not the right thing to do? Tell me who you are now, or I'll hunt you down and curse you! _I thought, more confused than angry.

"_Do not worry...Your friend will have hunted me down in no time if things keep transpiring the way they have been," _the voice said. _"My name cannot be pronounced by the human tongue, for I am not a human like you. I am made from earth and stone, and had life breathed into me when these lands were created long ago. As for why you should not reveal yourself to the Hunter...Well, it is not time for that yet._

"_If you have more questions that you desire an answer for, come to me. Do not let yourself be seen. I do not wish to be slain just yet, thank you."_

A colossus was reaching out to me with her mind? Really? I did not know that colossi had such complex minds as the humans. Evidently, I had been wrong. And she knew of Wanderer and his mission. How had word of his existence come to her? Perhaps the colossi had their own language, and their own way of spreading news. If they were smart enough to think, surely they were smart enough to carry messages.

Reluctantly, I turned to leave. But I was not as quiet as I had been before. I misjudged my footing and stepped down quietly, not silently, onto one of the stairs. Thither was a little tiny bit of sound from that, but sound nonetheless. I heard Wanderer stand and draw his sword when he heard my noise.

"Who's thither?" he demanded, looking more scared than intimidating.

Even though I was a girl and he was a man and he could ride faster on a horse, I could run faster than him. Before he could come to look at the stairs on which I stood, I took off to the outdoors, not looking back. Of course, it wasn't the most silent of escapes, but it was the fastest possible at the moment. Even if he had reached the steps in time, all he would have seen was a figure in a white dress. With a little luck, he might pass it off as just a mirage of Devin. Worst case scenario, he would chase the figure on the back of Agro. I could outrun Wanderer, but thither was no way I could compete with the speed of a horse.

I ran until I found a place to hide behind a rock. Wanderer had indeed decided to pursue the noisy escapee from the Shrine of Worship, but I had hidden before he could catch up. He sped past my hiding place without looking back. I could see the pain he was in, but thither was nothing I could do to heal him. The colossus had specifically told me not to let him see me.

Why did I want to meet this colossus? Well, first off, she had reached out to me. No one would do something like that without a motive. Also, I wished to know more about colossi and their existence. I wanted to know what kinds of creatures Wanderer was killing off and making extinct. Obviously, they were intelligent creatures, but what else were they? I had to know.

"_Is he coming back?"_ the voice asked.

"…I don't think so," I replied.

"_Call your horse. I shall tell you whither to go."_

I did as she told me to. Amethyst came running, and I let her and the colossus lead me to the meeting of the century.

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The colossus led me to a place with a door blocking the way. It was a huge door. A huge _locked_ door. Thither was no way that Amethyst would be able to get to the other side. The only thing on that door that was any indication of anything was a window-like opening that sunlight passed through. I could attempt to break it, but knowing this world, that would probably not be the smart thing to do.

"How do I get in?" I inquired the voice.

"_You'll have to wait a little. Only the sacred sword the Hunter carries can open the door, and that is only when he has slain every other member of my people. My incarnation is the last idol, you see. I am trapped on the other side of the door until the Hunter comes for me, and it is all that human Emon's fault," _the voice murmured.

"…You know Emon?" I was surprised, perhaps even shocked, by her mentioning of the accursed old priest. How did she know him?

"_Yes, unfortunately, I do. He was the priest who sealed these lands. A priest who hadn't even lived in these lands like the other humans that were once hither—he had come to find Dormin, the Unspeakable Evil One. We were glad at first to see him come to take care of the menace that was that deity...But the tables quickly turned against us."_

"What do you mean?"

"_I shall explain when the others arrive. And you shall be taken in by another of my people. Forgive me, but I cannot bring you in myself. I am currently immobile due to your priest Emon."_

"You have nothing to be remorseful about. Your immobility is not of your own doing."

She seemed kind enough. It appeared that colossi, too, had manners and feelings. Humans and colossi were not that different, really. We all felt the same, thought the same, and spoke the same, even if thither was a bit of variation between certain things. I looked forward to this gathering of colossi. I would be the first human they had conversed with in many years.

Out of nowhere, another colossus appeared. It was much smaller than any of the others I had seen Wanderer fight, and its head was sort of similar to that of a lion. It walked on all fours, and was slightly larger than Amethyst, but not by much. I could see its peaceful blue eyes clear as day and immediately I knew it posed no threat to me, even if it knew Wanderer was a friend of mine.

"_May I be your escort to the Storm, my lady?"_ a different voice asked, a masculine tone in the vocals. The lion colossus seemed to bow slightly as the words echoed in my head.

"I suppose so," I answered, dismounting a somewhat frightened Amethyst. "Thank you for your courtesy, sir. I assume your name is unpronounceable by the human tongue, too?"

The lion colossus laughed. _"You could say that. All of our people's names cannot be spoken by the human tongue simply because they are not human names. But you may call me Lionheart."_

It was not a familiar name to me, because all the names I had ever known had been human-related, not animal. But a combination of what his head resembled—a lion—and the word 'heart' seemed to suit him. Even if he was smaller than the others like him, I sensed he had a big heart…And a strong love of destroying things when set off.

"And you may call me Liliane," I told him with a small smile.

"_Climb aboard, Liliane. We must be off to the Storm,"_ Lionheart stated, kneeling down so I could get onto his back without too much hassle.

"What is this Storm? The sun is up, and I see no clouds in the sky. How can thither be a storm?" I asked as I got onto him.

"_You will see what I mean shortly."_

Once I was secure on his back and holding onto his stone armor as tightly as I could, Lionheart leapt. Even for a small colossus, he still managed to clear the huge locked door without any trouble. He ran up a few flights of stony stairs carved out of the side of a cliff, and jumped once more over an unsteady bridge that would have collapsed had he walked on it. He jumped a few more times to clear a few more obstacles. It was when he was near the top of this mountain—is that the right word for it?—that I realized the change in climate.

The air seemed thicker hither, like thither was much moisture in the air. Wind whipped about, even as Lionheart ran through a tunnel in this place. The wind was not caused by his running, however. It was a natural wind, caused by nature itself. But how was that possible? The sun had been out just moments ago, with a clear blue sky to go with it.

When he reached solid ground outside the tunnel, I understood what he meant when he spoke of the Storm.

Up hither where no life save one could be found, dark clouds covered the sky. Lightning flashed occasionally, followed by the boom of thunder. Rain came down heavily, drenching me as Lionheart walked across the ground to another part of this wet area. Wind whistled violently, and I feared that any moment now, a tunnel of wind would fall from the sky and destroy us (a tornado, if you didn't understand).

The only other living thing hither at the moment was a huge colossus. She towered over both me and Lionheart with ease. She had a skirt made of stone around her waist, her feet were made of stone, and stone armor surrounded her torso. Her head, also made of stone, resembled nothing from the wild—it was just a head with a pair of blue eyes. Glowing bracelet-like objects were on her arms. I wondered what their purpose was. She had fur on her arms, the back of the neck, a portion of the head, and her back, but otherwise her body was black with the glowing gold mixed into it in a weird way.

"_Hello, Liliane. Welcome to my prison," _the female voice that had previously been in my head greeted, and somehow I knew it was the tall colossus. _"You may call me Faelin._"

Faelin wasn't too far off from the names I was used to hearing. It almost sounded human.

"_The others will be arriving soon. Let us hope they come quickly," _Faelin muttered. _"Please save your questions until the other ten arrive. Thank you for your patience."_

The number made sense. Wanderer had slain four, two were present, and thither were sixteen idols in the Shrine of Worship. But who were the four that had been killed, and what would the size of the other ten be? Was Lionheart the smallest of the colossi race? Were thither no others his size?

I was about to find out.

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_A/N: No lyrics this time. Kinda short, but no as much as the last chapter. What did you think? If you haven't guessed, Liliane was talking with the last colossus in the game. I have no idea if the colossi already had names, but I'm going to give them my own, like I did with Mono/Devin. Thank you for reading! Now please...review._


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Well, still very few reviews. Only two people who seem like very nice people, TheFreelancerSeal and Triforce, are reviewing. I thank them now for their kindness, their devotion to this story that seems to be going nowhere. I also thank those who have gone so far in this story, even if they do not review or add it to their favorites. Let's just see how far we go, okay? Please read on._

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Chapter 8

The other ten arrived shortly after Lionheart and I had. I had heard them long before I saw them, as to be expected from colossi. Rock was not light, and these creatures had been born from the earth itself. Of course their steps would be loud and shake the ground. Faelin had no trouble resisting the tremors, but even Lionheart struggled to stay on his feet while his kind approached. Lucky for him, he had claws. Unlucky for me, I was a clumsy human. I kept falling over, my attempts to stay on my feet feeble. Lionheart offered his support, and after a few more rolls in the mud, I held onto his stony body and managed to not get any dirtier.

The first to come flew overhead. It had a body with a lot more fur than most of the others I had seen Wanderer slay. Mostly all of its top half had the fur, from wing tip to wing tip and down to the tip of its long tail. Somehow, this colossus made me think of a bat, even though bats did not have tails. Birds did, but 'bird' didn't seem to fit the creature well. Perhaps it was something about its head that made me think that way.

"_That is Gryffindor,"_ Lionheart informed me as the bat colossus perched himself on a nearby cliff. He was using names that I could pronounce, because all their true names could only be said in their language.

The next to come was a large colossus with hoofed feet, like the first victim of Wanderer had had. It, too, had fur on its back, but unlike its brethren, it had a lot of fur on the end of its chin. It was almost like a human beard. The hands were also like that of a human or ape. Perhaps its sibling had been that of the bear colossus.

"_That's Zelsa-Zimmobi. We prefer to just call him ZZ."_ (There's a story behind that; I'll tell you in the Author's Note at the end.)

After ZZ came a slithering serpent with three electrical spikes on its back, along with a lot of fur. It looked like it should have been in water and not on land, because it was struggling to move along. How it had even got hither was a miracle in itself. The face kind of looked similar to a catfish, but if it was one, it was the biggest catfish in the history of the world.

"_That's Nymphine. She's supposed to be in water. She's not very good on land, as you can see."_

She was followed by a crawling sort of colossus. It looked sort of like a lobster, and was just a bit larger than Lionheart. It entered climbing on the rocky cliff, having no trouble griping and staying put—no risk of falling for it. It had yellow glowing on the shins of all four legs, similar to the glowing elements on Faelin. Its mouth was stuck in the open position; I wondered what it all meant. I couldn't see any fur on this colossus, either.

"_That's Shadowcrawler."_

The one after him was a slow-moving colossus with long legs and a body that resembled a turtle's. Its mouth was also stuck in the open position-evidently, Shadowcrawler and this one came from the same family or something. But it was hardly noticeable; its mouth faced down unlike Shadowcrawler's. The only fur on this creature was on its underside and its head.

"_That's Crostatine. He's said to have been the first of our kind created by the gods. That's why he is so slow, apparently. I personally think it's just an excuse."_

After him came another long, legless creature. Just like Nymphine, this one was having trouble sliding on land. However, it didn't look like it would be comfortable in water. Its element eluded me for the moment. But what really struck me were its really big blue eyes, larger than any other colossi's had been. It also had fur on its back, the whole length of it, just like Nymphine.

"_That's Sandstorm. He does live on land, but he's usually burrowing in the sand."_

The next one came in the same way that Lionheart had, and no figure. This one was just as small as Lionheart. Its head resembled a boar's, the complete opposite of its brethren. Its fur did not show, so seemingly its entire body was stone, just like Lionheart. But for some reason, it looked frightened whenever lightning struck in the sky.

"_That's Melanine. She's afraid of fire and lightning. A bit of a weak point, if you will."_

Another colossus flew overhead. It had four wings total to keep it in the air, and they needed to be massive enough to support a body so long it rivaled Sandstorm and Nymphine. The head sort of reminded me of a dragon. The fur was only on its back, again, and upon further observation, I noticed about three different areas whither some sort of white bulbs were on its underside.

"_That's Freelancer_ (sorry, couldn't think of anything else)_. He's a bit of a loner hither. Likes to be out in the desert by himself. All he does is fly around in circles or burrow into the ground so no one will bother him."_

Another giant hoofed colossus came last, carrying a sword in its right hand. Just like the other two like it, it had hands and fur on its back. Thither was also fur on its chest and one, if not both, of its arms. No beard for this one. Its head kind of resembled that of an ape from Africa. The rest of it, of course, was made of stone.

"_That's Aslar. He guards a city that used to be so full of your kind. He liked them...Until Emon came and forced them to leave."_

No more movements came after all the colossi had taken their places. I took a quick head count and realized we were one short. Thither was supposed to be a total of twelve, yet only eleven were hither. Whither was the last one?

"_Corleon would like to apologize for being unable to make it," _Freelancer stated, still flying overhead because thither was no place for him to land. _"He was having trouble moving his extremely large body, and just gave up. He thought you would understand, seeing as you are immobile, Faelin. He is near that, with that large shell of a body."_

"_Of course I understand," _Faelin said. She was evidently the leader of the group, being immobile and all. The other one they spoke of, Corleon, must have also been in some authoritative position, since according to them, he was next to immobile.

"_Who is the little human girl?"_ Gryffindor asked, his voice dark and elusive.

"I am Liliane, and I am _not_ a girl. I am nearly a woman," I told him, as it was now true. So many moons had passed by that I was now over the age of seventeen.

"_What is a human doing hither?" _Crostatine demanded, sounding angry and old.

"_I invited her. She was about to expose herself to the Hunter, but I thought it best that she didn't. She is not in the same deal with Dormin as the Hunter is,"_ Faelin remarked.

"_The Hunter? She has befriended that monster? He who has taken away our brethren, who killed Sleneyn? She is in his company?" _Aslar exclaimed, his voice husky and bitter, like a true warrior_._

"_Calm yourself, Aslar. She has nothing to do with the death of your love. She does not like to watch our kind die. We do not judge humans on those they befriend, but on how pure their heart is,"_ Faelin said. _"And I ask you now, Aslar. Does her heart seem dark to you? Does it seem as evil as Dormin or Emon? Does it look like the heart of a killer or sinister being?"_

"_...No...But neither does the Hunter's," _Aslar pointed out. _"His heart is pure, yet he's as evil as Dormin and Emon. That is why he kills our kind! That is why he killed my Sleneyn! Because he is evil!"_

"No so! Wanderer is trying to bring back his dead love! And the only way he thinks he can do it is by completing the task that Dormin has set for him! Unfortunately, that task is slaying the colossi who are the reincarnations of the idols in the Shrine of Worship! So you cannot blame it all on him! Wanderer is only trying to bring back _his _love!" I shot back.

Aslar gave me a look, and had his face not been made of stone, I'm sure he would have been scowling. But he did not say anything to shoot down what I had said. No one did.

"I don't even know which one of the fallen colossi was your Sleneyn. I am very sorry for your loss, Aslar. Can you please tell me more about those that have fallen victim of _Dormin_, and also yourselves. I am clueless about your kind, other than the fact that you are all much larger than me," I said.

"_Is that a fat joke?" _Lionheart, being the light-hearted one in the group, teased. He would have been smiling if it were possible.

"_Well, for starters, thither were sixteen of us in these lands," _Melanine began, standing next to Lionheart and me. _"We have heard of others of our kind in other lands, but are really unsure if these rumors are true. Four of us have fallen victim to the Hunter...Or Wanderer as you have called him. I do not blame him for their deaths—I, too, see it as Dormin's doing."_

"_The fallen, in the order that they were slain, were named Winphol_ (the bear colossus)_, Erriffite _(the goat colossus)_, Sleneyn _(the one with the long arm)_, and Tremyrin_ (the horse colossus)_. My brother was Winphol—now the only family I have left is Aslar, and he lost his love. Hard to deal with a brother grieving the loss of one of the few females of our kind," _ZZ stated.

"_Erriffite and Tremyrin were more related to Corleon and me than the others. None of us are related as in the human way of birth, but we base families on similar physical characteristics. A human idea, but we do it, nonetheless," _Crostatine muttered. _"I miss my brothers greatly. Sometimes, their losses make me desire my death come quicker so that I may join them in the heavens."_

"_Thither were four females of our kind before. Now thither are just three," _Gryffindor remarked. _"As for males, we are down to nine. Not that I would care about such things. What does it matter the gender of a living thing?"_

"Can you tell me about why these lands were sealed? Why Emon came? And what is with the deity Dormin?" I asked. "And, just out of curiosity, can you reproduce?"

"_To understand why these lands were sealed off, we must first tell you about Dormin and Emon. And before we can tell you about Emon, we must first tell you about Dormin," _Nymphine began. _"We were hither a few centuries before They appeared on these lands. They had once been a god, but had been denounced from Their position because They practiced evil magic and manipulated the living in ways that were forbidden. As like any other god, Dormin wanted to be worshipped and placed above the mortal things of this world. No god, or former god in Their case, wants to be cast out of the heavens."_

"_They turned to us, the only real living things alive with intellectual minds," _Sandstorm continued for her. _"We were at first curious about Them and why They were on our planet, but soon grew agitated by its presence. As with you, we could only hear Their voice and feel Their presence. But that was enough to make us crazy. They would not leave us alone. Wherever we went, They followed, because at the time, thither was no shrine to contain it. Those of us with arms decided to build one for the former god so They would leave us be, and stupidly, we built it with the Idols of Our Creation on the inside. That would later come to bite us in the ass."_

"_Centuries later, after human civilization had come to our lands, Emon came. At the time, he was just a young man just entering priesthood. He had come upon seeing a 'vision' of the evil deity Dormin destroying the world. He rushed hither as quickly as he could to try and rid the deity of its freedom, and possibly force it to leave the planet entirely. We welcome him into our lands, and that sealed our fate right then," _Shadowcrawler grumbled, unhappy at the memory.

"_The only way he could think of that would prevent Dormin the freedom to leave our lands was to seal the lands altogether,"_ Freelancer said. _"But that would not be enough for Their power to be contained. The power had to be sealed within all sixteen of us colossi, so that even if the lands were unsealed somehow, Dormin would be powerless. Emon had to evacuate the lands, fearing for the safety of the people living hither. Then he sealed us away, limiting not only Dormin, but us as well."_

"_We used to be able to leave these lands and travel a bit. __**I**__ used to be able to walk," _Faelin recalled with a sigh. _"But then Emon made that impossible. He put Dormin's strength in us. He could have at least done it evenly, but no. I received more of it than the rest of our people, and that is the cause for my immobility. Mind you, that is not why Corleon struggles to move. He has always been the...largest...of our people."_

"_As for your last question...Of course we can reproduce! What living thing can't?" _Aslar snapped, finishing up the question-answer session. _"Sleneyn had a child once, but he died because he didn't know how to control its strength and caused a rockslide upon himself! She was so saddened by his death that she never wanted to have a child again!"_

"I'm sorry! I did not know! You don't have to be so snappy with me!" I hissed despite the fact that he could kill me with one stomp of his foot. "I am just a human, you know! We have very, very small brains!"

Aslar glared down at me for quite some time. I saw his sword move a few times, as if he intended to use it on me. Lionheart and Melanine exchanged glances; they might have moved to protect me from the sword had Aslar swung it, but they would have just been swept away since they were the smallest of the colossi. I couldn't understand Aslar's anger towards me. I had done nothing to him. Was he holding me accountable for what Wanderer was being forced to do?

Faelin looked hard at Aslar. He did not notice at first, but then he turned and stared back. From the length of time they spent glowering at each other, I supposed that their minds were connected and they were having an exchange of words. The other colossi seemed to know what was going on, because I saw a hint of a smile in some of their blue eyes. Aslar's eyes were no longer blue anymore—they were fiery orange. Faelin's remained peaceful the whole time. She was winning.

"_Now, you are going to be nice to Liliane, right?" _Faelin prompted.

"_...Yes...," _Aslar muttered, not at all happy.

"_Good. Now, is thither anything we need to discuss?" _Faelin inquired, looking at her fellow colossi.

"_We must be sure that Liliane does not reveal us to the Hunter. She cannot tell him of anything she has heard hither, or we may all be doomed,"_ Gryffindor said.

"_She would not tell him. She would not even reveal herself to him," _Melanine declared, a hint of confidence in her sweet voice as she turned her gaze on me. _"Will you, Liliane?"_

I shook my head. A question came to me that I really needed to have answered before we broke up. "Will Dormin actually be able to bring Devin back?"

The colossi all looked at each other. Time passed by, and the rain continued to fall without any sign of stopping. My dark blue dress was soaked throughout, but I did not care about it at the moment. The lightning did not faze me, and the wind was nothing but a force blowing through my hair. All that mattered was what the colossi's answer would be. Was Wanderer's quest for nothing, or was the evil outcast god going to keep its word?

I had an idea now what Dormin's true intentions were. Their powers were sealed in the colossi, and they were all trapped in these lands, the Forbidden Lands. If I knew Dormin well enough now, They would want to be free to destroy the world and do what They pleased. The only way for that to be possible was to destroy the colossi and their Idols of Creation. How could They accomplish that without Their powers? By luring some adventurer to slay the creatures, and therefore destroy the idols.

"_...Dormin, when They were a god, ruled over the Spirit Realm. They still have ties thither, so it may be possible," _Freelancer told me at last. _"But even if Dormin sticks to Their word, the Hunter- I mean, _Wanderer_, would have to slay us all. I hope that doesn't happen."_

"_I don't see why he can't just accept that the girl's dead," _Aslar grumbled under his breath bitterly.

One thing he should have learned long ago was that even muttering under one's breath when one is the size of a mountain is still too loud. I heard him clearly and fixated my angry gaze upon him. Unlike him, my anger shown completely in my expression—his could only be seen in his eyes. Compared to me, his expression wasn't the least bit intimidating.

"He can't accept Devin's death for the same damned reason you cannot accept Sleneyn's death! Wanderer loved her with all his heart! It was because of some damned prophecy that she was slain by the same sword that strikes down your kind! Damn Emon for taking her from us! Damn Dormin for manipulating Wanderer! Damn you for not understanding why he cannot accept the death of his lover! Damn the world for the death of my sister!" I shouted without realizing that tears were pouring down my face. They mingled with the falling rain, as if they were the tears of the sky and not my own.

Aslar looked at me, only he was no longer really glaring anymore. He was just looking as if he pitied me. Thither was no bitterness in his eyes. Perhaps we had finally connected.

"_We should return to our positions. Can't be caught together by Dormin, can we? They might force Wanderer to attack us if They knew we were meeting like this. And I, for one, would not want to kill he who does not understand that he is being used," _Melanine remarked. She turned to Lionheart and her stone muzzle made contact with his stone cheek. That must have been their way of kissing. _"I will see you later, Heart." _Then she looked at me once more._ "I shall attempt to see you again, before my Idol is chosen by Dormin. How would you like that?"_

"I would like that very much." That was true—of all the colossi, I liked her and Lionheart the most. Faelin was up thither with them, but it wasn't like I could see her whenever I wanted due to her position and my size.

"_Freelancer, would you mind taking Liliane back to the Shrine of Worship? You know, just make a quick stop and drop her off somewhere that she would not be seen by the Hunter?" _Faelin asked.

Freelancer sighed. _"That's a bit out of my way. And surely the Hunter would notice a colossus my size coming towards the Shrine and no doubt panic. I would do it, but I'm afraid my dropping her off would induce panic and danger for the both of us. Sorry, Liliane. Faelin."_

"_I'll do it," _Gryffindor offered reluctantly, flying his bat-like wings once. _"I'm smaller, hardly noticeable if I come in at the right angle on the right side. Dormin won't take heed of my presence and the Hunter is still weak from his last hunt. I'll have nothing to worry about if I am to deliver her back thither."_

"_All right. Take her away, and let us all disperse before Dormin finds us," _Shadowcrawler stated, already making to leave.

The colossi left, every single one of them save Faelin the Immobile and Gryffindor. The bat colossus put his extremely long tail down to whither I could reach it. Evidently, I was going to go flying with this creature, and I would have to hold on for dear life all the while. What fun for someone who had always been afraid of heights.

I grabbed onto the fur at the end and began my ascent. Gryffindor instructed me to go all the way up to the top of his back, between the wings. It was tiring work, but I managed to get to the specified place with some strength left. He said it would take awhile for him to level out so that I would not have to hold on so tightly, and to be a bit patient while he caught the wind. Like I had any other choice.

"Goodbye, Faelin," I said before he took to the air.

"_Goodbye, Liliane,_" Faelin murmured.

And then Gryffindor was off.

Flying in the Storm was hard work. He couldn't level out for a long time because he had to keep flapping against the wind. He would have to wait until we returned to normal conditions to level out his back for my sake, because the Storm was anything but normal. But once he had hit the sunshine and normal winds, everything was smooth sailing. Things were peaceful enough that I could actually let go of his fur and just lay thither on his back as he flew. It was really quite nice.

I did not know how quickly Gryffindor could get me back to the Shrine of Worship, nor did I care. I was in no hurry to return to the shrine that had been built for Dormin's sake, and now that Wanderer knew he was not alone, watching him without his suspicion would be more difficult. Keeping my mouth shut and not exposing myself to him would be the really hard part.

"_I won't be around much longer, Liliane,"_ Gryffindor informed me as he flapped his wings to keep his altitude.

"Why do you say that?" I wanted to know, looking up at the sky, for I was lying on my back.

"_My Idol follows Tremyrin's. He is now dead. Therefore, Dormin has chosen mine next," _Gryffindor explained. _"If your friend Wanderer is as desperate to bring back this woman Devin as I believe he is, he will stop at nothing to kill me. I am not as hard to kill as some may think. I'll be in the heavens soon enough, and my body will become a part of the earth again, as it once was."_

"Really? Oh my gods…I'm so sorry…" And I was, because even if I really didn't know Gryffindor that well, he seemed like a nice creature. To lose him once Wanderer was sent to slay him… "Is thither anything I could do?"

"_No...You have given your word not to reveal yourself or us to the Hunter. Let things transpire as they must, for that is all any of us can do."_

I really wished thither was something I could do, like kill Dormin after forcing Them to bring Devin back. But what could a little mortal woman do to one who had once been a god in the heavens?

Nothing.

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_A/N: No lyrics again. Sorry. What did you think? Tell me._

_Now for the story of how ZZ got his short name. When my sister and I first saw the bearded colossus, back when my father was going through it the first time, we thought he looked like that guy in the band ZZ Top. That's a pretty old band, but then again my parents are in their 40's so..._

_Please review! And thank you for reading!_


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: YAY! I got a new reviewer! Thank you, Mistclaw! I'll try to find a way to bring your name into this story, just like I have/will use the other two reviewers' names. And while I'm on the subject, thank you people who have reviewed, and you know who you are. I really appreciate it._

_Now, on with the tale!_

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Chapter 9

Three more colossi have perished because if Dormin and Emon. And one of those who had been slain was indeed Gryffindor. He was the first to be slain, and he had only one attack that had become his downfall. He would swoop in to take Wanderer out by knocking him into the water (there is water around the place that the bat colossus lives), but Wanderer just took advantage of that and clung onto his fur. After that it wasn't long until Gryffindor was dead. His body plummeted into the water and sunk to the bottom, never to be seen again.

The second colossus to fall victim to Wanderer's blade was ZZ. He put up more of a struggle than Gryffindor could have, but in the end it was his beard that was his demise. While trying to avoid ZZ's attacks in a corroded balcony-like thing, Wanderer had grabbed onto the beard when ZZ had gotten down to look for him. Wanderer made his ascent, found his vitals, and stabbed down with the hellish sword that had been used to take the lives of so many. ZZ was soon dead.

Only recently, Wanderer had slain Nymphine, the water serpent. Her electric spikes had been helpful in delaying her death, but Wanderer stabbed her weaker vitals to stop the powerful shock. Then he made his way to her head and killed her. Her body, like that of Gryffindor's, had sunk to the bottom of the lake she had lived in for so long.

All this death did not just affect the colossi—it affected me, too. I had seen with my own eyes that they did not deserve to die, that they were creatures of kindness, but no one else saw that, least of all Wanderer. He wouldn't know what he was being forced into until it was too late to change things. If everything went the way that Dormin had planned, then Wanderer would remain clueless until he killed Faelin. Then what would happen?

No one could answer that question.

To make up for what my friend was doing, I visited the colossi often. Not in a big gathering like the first time, but individually. They led me to their dwellings, and helped me reach them if an obstacle was in the way. Some of them, like Aslar, did not want me to come to see them, but others, like Melanine, wanted me to come often. They feared their Idol might be next, and thither was still much left unsaid.

Today was different. I would be going to the Temple of the Fire Guardian, whither Melanine lived, but she would not be alone. Lionheart would be with her. Apparently, thither was something they wanted to tell me. No matter how much I bugged them about it, they would not give it away until I met them at the temple.

Amethyst could never really get to the Temple, so I decided not to call her for this trip. Instead, I tapped into the dark arts and teleported myself thither. Teleportation is tricky stuff, because if it doesn't work out right, parts of someone might reach whither one wants them to go, but the rest of someone could be scattered anywhere. Also, one might accidentally transport themselves inside a solid object, like a wall, and be crushed to death. That's why I tried not to use this spell unless absolutely necessary.

Four stone pillars appeared around me, along with the walls of a cavern. Each pillars had a fire burning on wooden embers in some sort of bowl or vase or something to that effect. Either end of this cavern led to the outside world. And standing near one end were Melanine and Lionheart. Both were looking outside and did not appear to know that I was thither. They were talking in low voices.

I whistled, gaining their attention immediately. Melanine almost fell off the edge and almost took a huge fall (there's a chasm after the opening in the cavern), but Lionheart quickly steadied her. Their love for each other could make anyone jealous, especially one who wanted another but could not have him.

"Sorry, Melanine. I did not mean to frighten you," I apologized, walking over to them.

"_It's quite all right. I had not expected you to come so quickly. You just caught me unawares," _Melanine said, a smile in her eyes since she couldn't really smile. _"Besides, even if you had frightened me, my sweet little Heart would not have let me fall and hurt myself. It would hurt him just as much to see me hurt. Right?"_

"_Of course," _Lionheart replied, a smile in his eyes, too, as he looked at the boar colossus.

"…I don't mean to break up a romantic moment, but thither must be a reason that you've asked me hither," I said after a few moments. "And it must have been important since you didn't give me any details until I came. So would you please inform me of this most important secret you have kept from me?"

The two small colossi exchanged glances.

"_...We haven't just kept it from you. We've kept it from everyone for...awhile now,"_ Lionheart stated.

"Why?" I asked, a little shocked that they had kept something from their leader, Faelin.

"_Well, we didn't want to make anyone feel bad by telling them our secret because it would have especially hurt Aslar, and now it would hurt Sandstorm, too,"_ Melanine explained. _"We were very considerate of the others because our secret deals with a touchy subject that many of our kind would not like to converse about due to the pain the subject has caused."_

"And this secret is…?" I was beyond clueless. Mostly, I was just confused.

"_Come. Let us show you,"_ Lionheart suggested, kneeling down so that I might climb onto his back like I had the first time we had met.

I did just that, and then he and Melanine leapt down from the Temple. They landed on the ground a great distance below without hurting themselves and continued running. I had no idea whither they were going, but one thing was for sure. They trusted me more than their colossi friends, for they were showing me something no one but them had seen. Why did they trust me, a human, over people of their own kind? And why would letting their secret out hurt Aslar and Sandstorm and not me?

They took me into a different cavern, about a mile away from the Temple. Even before entering I could hear sounds like scampering feet and arguing, and I knew thither was life within these walls. I just didn't expect what the life would be. But I had a feeling…

My jaw dropped as I stared at three baby colossi playing in the cave. They were all no bigger than a wolf, but thither was strength and power radiating from their small forms. One of them was arguing with another over something I could not comprehend at the moment, and the other was just running around them in a circle. They all stopped what they were doing when they saw their parents.

"_Mother! Father!"_ their little voices cried, and the trio all pounced on their parents at the same time. I had to leap off of Lionheart's back to avoid being hurt by claws or hooves.

Lionheart chuckled deeply, like a father should, as he wrestled with one of his children. Melanine nuzzled the other two, pure happiness shining in her eyes. No one paid any attention to me, but that was all right. The colossus family was far more interesting than I could have ever been.

"_Mother, when can we leave hither? I'm tired of my brothers stealing my rocks from me," _a girl voice complained, and it came from one of the colossi near Melanine. I supposed rocks were their toys or something along those lines.

"_When the Hunter is gone, you moron!"_ the other colossus with Melanine hissed, eyes going orange as he glared at his sister. These two were the ones that had been arguing earlier, for that I was certain.

"_Don't you speak to your sister like that! I'll get your father on you!"_ Melanine threatened, looking and sounding menacing like a mother ought to when issuing a threat like that.

"_Darn it! You beat me! I'll never be able to win against your strength!"_ Lionheart exclaimed, his son standing victoriously on his chest. Somehow I had the feeling that the lion colossus had let his child win. All fathers were like that.

The colossus' eyes lit up at that before he jumped off of Lionheart and ran over to his mother. Lionheart got back onto his feet and looked at me, pure happiness in his eyes, too. What a happy family…But that could all be taken away when one of their Idols was called up by Dormin for destruction. Then everything could fall apart. Would joy still shine in his eyes if Melanine were to be slain? I doubted it.

Suddenly, I felt the eyes of the young colossi on me. Curiosity swam about in their eyes as they tried to determine who or what I was. I shifted uncomfortably—I was never a fan of being looked at so intently.

"_What's that thing over thither?"_ the girl asked, standing on her hoofed feet and walking a bit closer to me. Her brothers, who both had claws, followed her example.

"_That's my friend Liliane. She's a human, the one that I have told you about," _Melanine told her children, she too coming over to me. _"She will bring us no harm—you do not have to fear her."_

"_But isn't she friends with the Hunter? She could give us away and he'd kill us all!" _the one brother who had spoken of Wanderer earlier pointed out.

"_That's enough of that speech! If I hear another word about the Hunter from you, you're going to get a boulder to the bottom!" _Lionheart snapped. His eyes turned orange for a moment as he glared at his son. The boy looked ashamed to be scolded. _"Now go and play nicely. And that means without stealing your sister's rocks."_

The children colossi returned to what they had been doing before their parents had come. Lionheart and Melanine led me a little bit away from the cave, and I knew thither were things they wanted to discuss with me out of the earshot of their kids.

"How long have you had them?" I inquired when they stopped.

"_Two years, give or take," _Lionheart replied. _"It's a miracle they've survived this long. We would have thought the tragedy that happened with Sleneyn's kid would have happened to our children, too. The gods must have blessed them."_

"Do they have names that my tongue could pronounce?"

"_Yes. The girl you may call Mistclaw. The one that keeps speaking rudely about your friend you may call Coldheart. The silent one you may simply call Windwhisper," _Melanine told me.

I looked back at the children colossi. Mistclaw looked not much like her parents. She looked more like a small deer with the head she possessed. The tiny hooves she had added to the affect. And unlike her parents, her fur was exposed. Coldheart resembled a wolf more than anything else, and his fur was exposed as well. Windwhisper had a head similar to a lion's, like his father, and only stone showed on him. But unlike any of the others in his family, he had claws on the front legs and hooves on the hind legs. And he had a long, thin stone tail. Out of all the children, Windwhisper was the most impressive.

"I am honored that you have revealed them to me," I stated. "But why did you do so?"

"_Because, Liliane, they will need someone to take care of them when Wanderer comes for us," _Lionheart explained, a hint of sorrow in his deep voice. _"They may be colossi and they may mature quicker than most other creatures in the world, but they are still too young to be on their own. It was a different story with us—we were created adults. They must have someone to show them the way to adulthood. And we believe you are the person to do it."_

"_Let's face it. Wanderer will take us all out. The children will be safe because their Idols are in a place out of Dormin's reach and Their power is not contained in our offspring. You, too, will be safe because you are human and Wanderer is your friend. Only you can take care of Mist and Cold and Wind when he comes for us. You know this just as well as we do,"_ Melanine said.

"But…But I do not know how to raise colossi. How could I take care of them?"

"_It is not difficult. Colossi don't even eat, so you need not worry about that. And they already know the basics of being what they are. All they need is someone to be thither for them during the bad times and when they start to really mature,"_ Lionheart remarked.

"_We won't be gone for awhile, so you mustn't worry too much about that yet,"_ Melanine said. _"Until one of our Idols comes up, we shall bring you hither so that they get used to your presence. Then they will not fear you anymore."_

"Gods, I hope you are not slain. If you die then…They'll never be the same," I murmured.

"_We know...But we must face the inevitable, Liliane. Wanderer is going to kill us."_

Lionheart's voice was cold; I had never heard him speak like that before. Perhaps he thought he had been too gentle with me and now it was time to get tough so that it would become clear that thither was no alternative. I knew that already.

I was just far from happy about it.

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_A/N: Very, very short chapter again. Sorry. I just didn't have much to say. But even though it was short, what did you think of it? Please tell me. Thank you for reading!_


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Tenth chapter! Last time I checked, there were thirteen reviews. That's not as many reviews as other stories have, but oh well...I'm very glad for those who have reviewed. And don't worry, Triforce, I'll be using your name for something HUGE soon, all right? Well, not soon, more like near the end. But it'll still be HUGE. Now let's continue._

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Chapter 10

Four more colossi are dead.

The first of these four to be slain was Shadowcrawler. He dwelled in a ruined coliseum with about five different levels. He could climb up those levels and meet Wanderer eye-to-eye. And that yellow glow on him and his permanently opened mouth were for an offensive attack. Whenever Wanderer shot at him or came within his view, Shadowcrawler would shoot out orbs of energy at my friend. If he stayed around that area too long, the energy had a bad effect on him. But Wanderer shot at his legs while he was on the walls, causing him to fall on his back and reveal his vital. It wasn't long until Wanderer killed him.

The second victim was Crostatine, the slow and so-called oldest of the colossi. He lived on a land covered with geysers, which he had tried to avoid. He, too, shot orbs of energy at Wanderer, but on the back of Agro, he dodged them with ease. Crostatine got caught on one of the geysers, which forced two of his legs up in the air and the other two to be bent in a way to keep him from flying up in the air. Wanderer shot at the supporting legs, causing the elder colossi to roll onto his side. Thither he lay while Wanderer made his ascent up the fur on his underside, reaching the beginning of his rocky shell before Crostatine could manage to get up again. Wanderer made it to his head and it wasn't long until the oldest of the colossi had been killed.

Third of the dead was Sandstorm. Wanderer had found him in his sandy habitat with tall stone pillars. The sun shone down through an opening in this cavern, but that did not make finding Sandstorm any easier. He was a burrower—he remained underground until he sensed my friend's presence. Then his head popped up and he began to go after Wanderer. My friend charged on the back of Agro, staying just out of reach of Sandstorm's chomping attack. He whipped out his bow, struck Sandstorm in one of his huge blue-orange eyes, made him spiral until his head hit a wall and got stuck in the sand, and climbed onto his underside (which was now facing upward). Two dead vitals later and Sandstorm had joined his mate Nymphine in the heavens.

The last death weighed heavily on my heart. Wanderer had gone after Melanine at the Temple of the Fire Guardian. She had tried her best to ram him away, but her attacks would have only stunned him for awhile without hurting him too much. He managed to get onto one of the fire pillars. She rammed into it, accidentally causing one of the wooden embers to fall out. Wanderer raced for it, grabbed it, and raced back to the fire pillar before Melanine could get him. He lit it in the flames, evidently knowing of her fear of fire, and held it out in her face. She backed away slowly, sometimes reaching out with her claws to attempt to knock the fire out of his hands. Her anxiety shown in her orange eyes as she came closer and closer to the cliff edge. Wanderer did not give her any mercy. She fell off the edge of the cliff, breaking off her stone armor and revealing her vital on her furry back. Wanderer jumped onto her back and after some time, he ended her life.

Her death screams could be heard by the rest of the colossi, including her children. Now thither were only five adult colossi and three motherless children colossi. Her last mental message to us was this:

"_Do not grieve too much, my friends. I will be going to a better place. I only wish I could have stopped Dormin from what he is forcing that young man to do. But it is too late to worry about that._

"_Heart, I hope you know I will always love you, and I will be both dreading and looking forward to your return to me. Mist, Cold, and Wind, I hope you can go on without me, because you will always have Liliane, and your father is still thither for now. Liliane, do not feel responsible for any of this. We told you not to reveal yourself to Wanderer because we did not want to disrupt destiny. It is no one's fault but Dormin and Emon. Please help Heart take care of my children, for soon they will be alone. My friends, you will always have a place in my heart. I hope I will not see you soon, but we all know the truth._

"_I must be gone now. The gods are calling me. I love you all..."_

Mistclaw was completely broken up about her mother's death. She cried into my dress when I came to see them, as she was small enough to do fit on my lap. She might have weighed a ton because of the stone, but I did not care. It was my duty to take care of her and her brothers, now that their mother was gone.

Coldheart sulked in the corner, tears falling silently from his eyes. He did not desire comfort from a human; he disliked humans because of what Wanderer had done. He also did not want his father anywhere near him—he thought his sire was a human sympathizer even though one had slain Melanine.

Windwhisper was different from his brother. He, too, cried silently, but he did so in the comfort of Lionheart's paws. He wasn't afraid to admit that he missed his mother, but he did not blame humans for it. And his father wasn't a human sympathizer. He had just become friends with one, and she had had nothing to do with any of this. He liked me, but he preferred to spend as much time with Lionheart as was possible. He knew thither wasn't much time left before his father would join his mother in the heavens.

"_Two Idols are in front of mine,"_ Lionheart told me in front of his children. Thither was no need for secrets anymore—they were now fully aware of the situation due to their mother's death. _"Corleon and Freelancer. I fear for that old turtle colossus. He has always had trouble moving. Fighting Wanderer may prove difficult for him. At least his vital isn't obvious. But Freelancer...I'm not so sure about him. Getting onto him would be a bit difficult, but once Wanderer is upon him...His vitals won't be too hard to find."_

"I know what you mean, Lionheart," I murmured, rubbing Mistclaw's furry back affectionately as she continued to weep. I could no longer feel my legs, but I didn't care. "What about you? How hard will you be for Wanderer to fight? And what about Aslar and Faelin?"

"_I will be extremely difficult to beat, Liliane. Forgive me, I know you are Wanderer's friend, but he has filled me with a rage that no one can calm. He took away my heart and soul when he stabbed that unholy sword into my love. Thither is no way in hell I'm going to let him get off easy for that. Thither is just no way. And if I am beaten and Wanderer faces Aslar, he will have no mercy. Aslar hates him more than I do. And Faelin...She is the toughest of us all. That is why her Idol of Creation is last in line. If he manages to beat her, I'll eat my angelic claw."_

"It seems that everyone is feeling the pain that Wanderer and Aslar have been feeling for so long. Have you thought about that?" I asked.

"_Who cares about that dead girl? She's part of the reason that Mother is dead!"_ Coldheart snapped, kicking a rock at my head.

I hissed as the rock cut me across the face. Mistclaw saw the blood dripping from my face and halted in her crying. She glared at her brother and charged at him, her eyes flashing orange. She moved too quickly for anyone to stop her or dodge her attack.

"_You little bastard! You hurt Liliane!" _she exclaimed, knocking Coldheart right through the wall with her charge attack. _"Mother told you never to do that! Liliane is our friend, our caretaker when Father's gone! How dare you treat her like that! How dare you hurt her! She suffered far worse than we ever have!"_

"_Mistclaw! That's enough!" _Lionheart shouted, silencing his daughter. He was on his feet and running to check on Coldheart.

The wolf colossus was still conscious, but part of his stone armor on his head was now crooked. Lionheart helped him to fix it, but his eyes never turned back to the peaceful blue I was used to seeing. The behavior of his children was frustrating him, that much was obvious.

"_Your sister is right, although her actions were unacceptable,"_ Lionheart stated. _"You are treating Liliane like dirt just because our family has lost someone. She has no family anymore. Her parents died when she was younger. 'That dead girl' was her sister, the last member of her family she had. Now she is alone. We are all that she has, since she cannot show herself to Wanderer. And do you think that kicking rocks in her face will make her feel wanted? Hmm? Do you?"_

"_...No...," _Coldheart muttered.

"_You three are the first of our kind to survive the first few years of life. I don't want you to kill each other over trivial things, or anything at all for that matter. That means no more charging each other into walls, even if someone does something wrong,"_ Lionheart remarked, looking pointedly at Mistclaw as he said this. _"Have I made myself clear?"_

"_Yes, Father," _all three of his children grumbled.

Everyone returned to whither they had been before the rock had been kicked. I had already healed the cut with magic, making it seem as if nothing had happened at all. Mistclaw didn't cry anymore, but sadness still shown in her beautiful little blue eyes as she looked up at me.

Suddenly, I found Windwhisper at my side. He had just come from out of nowhere, and although tears still rolled down his stone face, he looked a little more curious than sad. He came over and sat down in front of me, looking me straight in the eye.

"_Tell me about you and Wanderer,"_ he said.

I was taken aback by his request. No one had ever wanted to know about my past and the past of Wanderer before. What had changed?

"Why do you want to know about us?" I inquired.

"_I wish to know if Wanderer was always this way, and I want to know more about the person who shall take care of us when our father passes,"_ Windwhisper replied.

"_Will you tell us?"_ Mistclaw wanted to know, looking up at me.

I cast a helpless look at Lionheart, who was close to me now as well. He gave a small nod, allowing me permission to tell the children about the past life of Wanderer and me. Coldheart did not come closer, but his sense of hearing would let him listen. Even Lionheart looked interested.

"Well…Wanderer came from a faraway land, much farther than my village is from hither. He appeared one day on the back of his beautiful stallion Agro when I was about twelve years of age, and he just came to fit into our village. His real name is like yours—unpronounceable in our language. So we just called him Wanderer, because he had wandered into our village.

"I had lost my parents a few years before Wanderer came to our village, and I had been an outcast in the village, especially among those my age. People tried to kill me because I was different than they were. I was the target of children especially. Jagged stones were their favorite weapon choice." I noticed Coldheart cringe as I brought that up. "And once, when this group of four boys and one girl had attempted to hang me, Wanderer saved me from them. That was the beginning of our friendship, even though he is a full six years older than me.

"I remember this one time, when he was training me to fight against those who would do me harm…"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_(Flashback)_::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

_A young girl, around the age of thirteen, pulled back the string of the bow with the arrow, trying to make the darn thing work the same way that Wanderer made his work. She released, but the arrow just fell to the ground. Her hand had slipped again. Frustrated, she threw the bow down and stomped her foot._

"_I can't do it!" she snapped, looking at the adult standing a few feet away from her._

"_Yes, you can," Wanderer told her, coming over to her side with his own bow in hand. "You're just being too hard on yourself. Would you like me to show you how to do it again?"_

"_No! I don't want to do it anymore. Can't you just show me how to fight with a sword?" she asked._

"_You're already good at that. That's why we moved on to using the bow, remember? You've gotten so good with the sword that you could go out into battle and win. Why go back to something you have already mastered? It makes no sense," Wanderer said._

"_Well, who says I'm ever going to need a bow? I'm not trying to kill someone! I'm trying to protect myself from being hurt when those little brats attack me!" she hissed._

_Wanderer looked frustrated with her. She gulped, fearing that he might actually yell at her for once. But he just took a deep breath and knelt down beside her so that he could look at her straight in the eye. She met his gaze evenly, although on the inside she was trembling with fear._

"_Liliane, I'm not teaching you this so that you can kill people. I'm teaching it to you because you might need it to survive. Arrows aren't just used for piercing hearts. They can be a lifeline," Wanderer stated. "Say those little brats have you on a cliff with a deadly fall as your only escape. If you had a bow with rope, you could shoot an arrow into a nearby tree, tie the other end of the rope to something sturdy, and slide away from them before any harm could come to you. Do you see what I mean?"_

"_...Sort of...But what if the rope broke or the arrow snapped? I'd still end up dead or injured," Liliane pointed out._

"_That hardly ever happens," Wanderer assured her. He picked up her discarded bow and arrows and held them out to her. "So, would you like to have a lifeline, or would you rather jump off a cliff?"_

_Liliane reluctantly took the bow and arrow from his hand. She tried to do what Wanderer had done earlier. She held the wooden part of her bow out in front of her, put the feather end of the arrow on the string, pulled back, and released. She expected the arrow to fall to the ground again, but it didn't. Instead, it flew into the tree that she had been trying to hit for quite some time now. Her arrow didn't go as high as Wanderer's had gone, but it was still an achievement for her. A big smile broke out on her face as she turned to her tutor. He, too, was smiling._

"_See? I told you that you could do it," Wanderer said. "Now, let's see if you can do it again. Then we'll work on aim."_

_She shot three more arrows, each hitting the tree and going a little higher than the previous one had. She was glowing with pride by that time._

"_Good job, Liliane," Wanderer said. "Just remember, weapons weren't just created for the sole purpose of killing. They were created to help people survive. Never forget that, no matter what. All right?"_

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_(End Flashback)_:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"And I still haven't forgotten that lesson, to this very day," I concluded. "I doubt Wanderer has, either. He just does what he does because he wants to bring his lover, my sister, back from the dead. So, to answer your question, Wind, no. Wanderer wasn't always killing creatures for some false hope. He was a great man, and I believe he still is. He has…just strayed a bit."

"_That was a lovely story,"_ Mistclaw complimented, momentarily forgetting about her mother's death.

"_Kinda makes you wish you'd known Wanderer before the death of that girl,"_ Lionheart agreed. _"He seemed decent enough."_

"_He seemed to know what a real warrior was. I mean, warriors don't exist for the sole purpose of killing everything in sight. They're thither to ensure the safety and survival of the people, including themselves. As Wanderer said, 'Weapons weren't just created for the sole purpose of killing.' All warriors know that, and that makes Wanderer a true warrior," _Windwhisper stated.

"_Tch. Whatever. It still doesn't change the fact that the Hunter is a murderer. He's killing our kind like we're flies when it should be us that are swatting him down," _Coldheart grumbled. _"If he lives to see Faelin fall, I will kill him the moment his weapon is out of hand. I swear on my mother, Melanine, that I will not let him live to see his lover brought back to life. Then he will know what death is like. And thither isn't anything any of you can do to stop me."_

He was right; they couldn't really do anything to stop him except kill him. Sure, I could bind him with a spell, but that would just tire me and infuriate him more. His hate of humans would just continue to grow until it consumed him.

Whither had such a hate come from?

Thither was no way of knowing, except that it had come about when the colossi had started to die.

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_A/N: End of chapter. What did you think? Tell me as soon as you finish reading, please. Thank you for reading._


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: I'm so pleased with all the reviews I'm getting. But I like the people who review, too, because they're so nice to me and everything. I only regret that I can only make this story so long, and then after that our ties will be severed. The time will not be much longer, but I will enjoy every minute of it. I hope you will, too. Please read on._

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Chapter 11

Only two colossi remained alive now.

The first to be killed was the one I had not met, Corleon. He had indeed been huge, with the body like a turtle and looking like it weighed as much as a mountain. He was stuck in a watery area secluded above a huge waterfall, whither civilization looked to have existed at one time. His fur had been in two places—up the back of his tail and on his stomach—one of which could not be seen while Wanderer faced him in the water. But after reaching Corleon's stony head (not at all like a turtle's head, by the way) and goading him into heading into one of the three pillars sticking out of the water, Wanderer figured out whither the vital on Corleon was. The old heavy fool tried to project orbs of energy from these spikes on his face, but it did no good; Wanderer ducked behind something on the top to avoid being hit. Furious, Corleon put his two front legs up thither, exposing his furry belly and his only vital. It didn't take long for Wanderer to permanently put Corleon in the water after that.

Second to die was Freelancer (sorry). His landscape was a vast desert in the middle of nowhere near the remains of some old temple. He just floated around for the most part, trying to ignore Wanderer although he knew his life was in danger. Wanderer could not reach him, even though Freelancer wasn't extremely high up in the air. He could have gone higher had he tried. But Wanderer did something to make Freelancer accessible—he shot the three sets of white bulbs on Freelancer's underside. Due to his pain, Freelancer lowered his wings and allowed them to drag on the ground while his bulbs rapidly healed (this sounds really weird, now that I think about it). Wanderer, riding swiftly on the back of Agro, managed to go fast enough to keep pace with Freelancer and jumped onto one of his lowered wings. From thither he made his ascent until he reached the back of the dragon colossus. Then he found the three vitals, evenly spaced out, and made short work of them. Freelancer was killed and fell back down to earth, never to fly again.

Third and final of these tragic deaths…was Lionheart. His arena was full of tall towers and other structures, just waiting to be knocked down. Wanderer entered his living space, not knowing of the rage built up inside the lion colossus. As soon as Lionheart saw my friend, his eyes turned orange. He charged at Wanderer, who skillfully dodged by jumping onto a fallen tower too tall for Lionheart's attack to reach him. The other towers and structures were strategically placed so that one might jump from safe place to safe place. Why the need to move? When Lionheart charged a tower twice, it fell over from the damage to its base. After some time, Wanderer was on top of a structure in front of a wall. Without thinking, Lionheart banged his head against it twice. The tower surged forward, breaking the wall in its path. Pieces fell all over the place, but miraculously Wanderer was not hit by any of them. He made a mad dash for a stone ladder thing, climbed up before Lionheart could hit him, and stood above Lionheart on a much higher platform. Lionheart could jump high, but his anger had overshadowed all logic. He charged at the small weak tower supporting the platform, demolishing it and causing the ledge above to collapse on him. It didn't kill him, but it messed up his stone face and destroyed his stone armor on his back so that it revealed his vital. Wanderer had not fallen with the platform, as he had moved back just in time. He jumped onto Lionheart's exposed back and after some tricky riding, he managed to literally stab the life out of Lionheart.

I had been observing all these fights without Wanderer seeing me due to magical obscuration. None of them had ever been this terrifying or this saddening, not even Melanine's. Now Lionheart was gone, and with him went the hope of her and his children, as well as the last two living colossi.

While he was struggling against Wanderer and his blade, after the accident with the ledge, I was standing near the destroyed wall, an expression of pure terror on my face. I didn't know who I wanted to win, but I knew I didn't want Lionheart to die. I didn't want Wanderer to die, either, but that was beside the point. His messed up face had covered both of his eyes, making it hard for him to see. But, during one of the times when he paused for a moment to deal with the pain, I saw him look over in my magically obscured direction. His eyes were hardly visible, but they appeared to be blue. It was as if he knew thither was no point in struggling any longer.

"_Liliane, it is time...Take care of them for me..."_

And then he was dead.

After his death, I had collapsed to the ground and cried out. Wanderer had noticed at first, but then the black tendrils that would be his doom shot into him, knocking him unconscious before he could look for the source of the outburst. I let my magic cloak fade, as it no longer mattered whether or not it was up, and I ran over to Lionheart's body. It was already becoming one with the earth again. I fell and rested my arms upon the corpse of Lionheart while I cried, letting the tears fall freely from my eyes. These tears were not just for him, but for all the death that I had had to face over the course of the last few moons. They had been weighing so heavily on my soul, but I had held in the pain to be strong for the others. Lionheart's death had broken me. Now a dam had burst, letting loose a torrent of tears that refused to end.

When they did end, I teleported myself into the cavern whither the children colossi were. I did my best to calm down Mistclaw and Windwhisper, but Coldheart wanted nothing to do with me. Against his siblings' protest, he kicked me out, cursing the human race and condemning me for the deaths of his parents. When his sister and brother tried to come out with me, he knocked them back, his piercing orange glare enough to scare even Windwhisper. But the siblings looked ready to fight for me. I told them it was all right, that perhaps it would be better if I came back when things had settled down and that they shouldn't fight at a time like this. Then I left, mentally reaching out to the last two colossi so that we could meet one last time.

So much pain had welled up inside of me that day that I thought I might have burst any moment. All the death…All the sacrifice…All the hatred…It was taking a huge toll on me. I could hardly summon up the strength to teleport myself to the Storm because I was in so much pain. Walking would have been harder. In fact, as soon as I had done the spell and reached Faelin's prison, I collapsed, unable to stand anymore. No more tears came—all I felt was a numb emptiness, a void that couldn't be reached by anything. It hurt too much to even try.

"_Liliane? Are you all right?" _Faelin cried when she saw me collapse. But she couldn't have done anything to help me, as she was immobile and my pain was on the inside, beyond colossi reach.

I couldn't voice an answer—the pain had stolen almost everything from me. I could see and hear and feel just fine, but I could not respond to anything at all. The continuous rainfall washed over me, but it did not take my pain with it. It was just thither, trying to comfort someone that no comfort could have ever reached. The person the rain attempted to soothe was a lost cause that should have never been born, because everywhere she went, pain followed.

The earth barely shook as one colossus, the last one besides Faelin, came towards the Storm. I was barely aware of Aslar's presence until he appeared above me, putting his sword down on the ground a few dozen feet away from me. His blue eyes focused on the unmoving human lying on the ground, a dim sign of concern showing in them.

"_What is the matter with her?"_ Aslar asked, his voice not unkind.

"_I think everything she has seen has finally taken a toll on her. She's snapped on the inside," _Faelin said. My back was to her, so I could not see what she could see in Aslar's eyes. But she sounded absolutely concerned about me.

"_That's very unfortunate. I thought she would have been the strongest of us in the end,"_ Aslar murmured. _"But I suppose her heart is bigger than ours. She cares more about our kind than we do hers, even though her friend's life is in danger just like ours. That compassionate heart will be her downfall. That's what I always believed, right from the moment I saw her."_

He knelt down beside me, his hands nearly touching the ground because his arms were so long. His right arm, the one that usually held his weapon, reached out for me. I was too lost in the void to fear him, so my heart did not even skip a beat as his fingers clenched gently around me. Aslar lifted me off the ground and held me carefully in his hand, looking at me with genuine concern in his eyes.

Then he was in my mind.

All I could think was, _Pain...Falling into darkness ...Emptiness ...Death ...Falling... Falling... Falling...Falling..._

_**Liliane, you need to wake up.**_

That was the voice of Aslar, really ringing in my head like no other colossus' voice had done before. It really reached me in the numb emptiness, slightly alerting me to the real world. But I was still lost, and slipping away fast.

_Falling...Still falling...Don't want to go back to the light...Must leave...Pain and death...So much...Pain..._

_**I know, Liliane. But you must come back to the light. The darkness, the emptiness...It's bad. If you fall into that void, you'll never be able to leave it again. Then whither would you be? Any future you might have had would be gone. Everything you have ever done would have been for nothing. You'd be letting down a lot of people.**_

_No one...Alone...Just Wanderer...Devin...Dead...No one else... Alone...No future...No Jaccen...Ever..._

_**How do you know for sure? Have you ever told this Jaccen person how you felt? And how do you know that no one wants you? That no one cares about you? Let me let you in on a little secret. **_**I**_** care about you. Faelin cares about you. Wanderer cares about you. All the dead colossi care about you. And Jaccen cares about you more than anyone else.**_

That snapped me out of it for a moment. _How do you know that?_

_**Because I have abilities that are beyond human comprehension. I can also tell you that he is coming hither to find you because of all those romantic reasons. And if you fall into that emptiness, you'll never be able to see him again.**_

I was arousing now, heading towards the light even though all my fears were thither with it. _How do you know so much about the darkness, the emptiness?_

_**...When my Sleneyn died...I fell into that darkness. Only my brother and Faelin could bring me out of it. Sometimes...I think the darkness was more inviting, but...I had to go on living for as long as possible. If they hadn't reached me in time...I would have never met you, and then...Whither would you be? And whither would I be?**_

Faelin let out a sigh of relief when she saw me sit up in Aslar's hand. Our mental connection had been severed, but thither was still an understanding between us. I gave him a small smile as he set me back down on the ground, and he nodded because it was impossible for him to smile.

"_So...Why did you call us hither, Liliane?" _Faelin asked.

"Well, I know it won't be long until Wanderer comes for the both of you…But I wanted to try something out. If it works, it might just give you some mobility, Faelin," I said.

"_What are you going to do, try a spell on us? And what will it do, free us from Emon's curse and Dormin's presence?" _Aslar wanted to know.

"Yes, it is a spell, but it is not strong enough to remove the curse or destroy Dormin. I know you are probably going to hate this…But I want to try to turn you into a human form for awhile. Speaking to you when you're towering over me like that is kind of intimidating at some times. And besides, it'll be an experience to take with you when…" I trailed off, flinching from the thought of death because thinking about it would throw me back into the void. "What do you say? May I attempt to make you human for a few sun motions?"

Aslar and Faelin exchanged glances. I could feel Aslar's mixed emotions about the subject since he, like Coldheart, did not like my kind that well. But unlike Coldheart, he had had good experiences with humans, so his dislike was not as great. He was facing a very fierce internal conflict. And Faelin…Well, I could tell without being connected to her that she desired to have mobility again, if just for a few sun motions.

"_Very well. Let us see if you can do this spell," _Faelin told me.

With her approval, I began to murmur an ancient incantation spoken only in an ancient tongue. The words came easily, as if I was meant to speak them and that they were made for me and me alone. Aslar and Faelin waited patiently. I did not know if they could understand me—I was saying everything so quickly that I could not even understand myself, and the language was an old human one. But I did not concern myself with that trivial thought. I focused on my magic, closing my eyes to make concentration easier.

When the words ceased to flow and I had opened my eyes, no figures were standing over me anymore. Standing in the continuous rainfall with me were two other humans—one young man and one young woman. They were much more appealing than normal humans, providing evidence that they were not your ordinary humans. They were supernatural…They had been transformed from colossi to man.

Aslar had taken the form of a young man with long black hair that could obscure his face. His eyes were still blue, but they were not as magnificent as they were when he was a colossus. They were still beautiful, however. His body was built like that of a warrior or hunter, and he was still taller than I was, just not taller than a mountain as well. His sword, which he had set down earlier as an ape colossus, had changed with him, turning into a normal metal sword. His clothes had been transformed into that of a warrior from my old village, resembling what Wanderer himself wore. As for his skin tone, he was just as pale as Devin had been and still was, even in death.

Faelin now looked like a beautiful young woman, with pale blonde hair that was lighter in color than my own. Its length reached the small of her back, blowing freely in the wind that was unnaturally whistling in the Storm. Her eyes were also blue, although they were more like the color of water in the sea than anything else. She had the same build as me and nearly every other young woman I had ever seen—small yet appealing to the men in our lives. Her dress was a pure white gown without sleeves, which nearly blended in with the color of her skin. Her shoes were like mine—a simple pair of sandals.

Compared to her, I felt ugly.

"Wow! I can actually move!" Faelin exclaimed, jumping up and down with excitement. Her voice was still amazingly harmonious, even in human form.

"I'm surprised it actually worked. I thought she would just tire herself out from trying a spell like that on two huge beings like us," Aslar stated, walking over to retrieve his discarded sword. He sounded just as husky as he had before. "I suppose I should have had more faith in her."

"Damn right you should have! You're looking at a spellcaster hither with the power to make the gods tremble!" Faelin shouted, putting an arm around my shoulders. She felt much warmer than normal humans did. Her skin made me want to pull away, but I didn't.

"Now…How do we get out of hither?" Aslar inquired. His eyes looked straight at me.

"That's easy. I'll use magic to teleport us out of the Storm. That's how I travel so quickly, so I should be able to transport the three of us together," I said.

"Should?" Aslar raised an eyebrow, something he had been unable to do as a colossus. "You're not sure?"

"I've never tried because I never had to, and magic was a crime in my village," I told him bluntly. "Now beware. If this spell goes wrong, we could end up inside a wall or above a huge hole or parts of us might be left hither. Thither are probably more awful things that could happen to us if this goes wrong, but I don't feel like listing them all at the moment. I don't want to scare you—I just don't want to surprise you if we get stuck inside a rock."

"Oh, brilliant. Lovely spell. What other ones do you have that could virtually end with our deaths?" Aslar grumbled, not too thrilled about the whole human thing anymore.

I ignored him and began murmuring the simpler incantation. I took one of their hands so that thither would be no chance of leaving them behind. Aslar shrunk away from me, and from his expression I could tell he was annoyed by the fact that he was being forced to hold my hand. I rolled my eyes and mentally told him that he'd get over it. His mind shrunk away from me, too.

We instantly found ourselves inside the Shrine of Worship. Faelin and Aslar stiffened when they took in their location, and they would know what the Shrine looked like because they had helped to build it with the other colossi. They saw the piles of rubble that had once been their friends' Idols of Creation, and their own Idols were standing tall directly across from one another. The altar whither Devin laid was abandoned, and thither was no sign of Wanderer. Dormin's eerie presence did not come around, either. We were safe hither…for the time being.

"Calm down, you two. Thither isn't any danger hither right now. Wanderer is out, probably hunting his dinner down. And we won't be long. I'll take you guys away before Wanderer or Dormin shows up," I promised.

They were still tense, but they did calm down a little. Aslar's scowl never left his face, and I could feel his distrust of me. I could hear his thoughts about how I had put them into a human form so that Wanderer could kill them easier. Had he forgotten my connections to the colossi, and how I had gone into a state of mental turmoil over their deaths already? He was the one who had pulled me out of it in the first place.

Faelin ran over to the altar whither my sister laid motionless, looking at her with excited interest. She gently caressed Devin's cheek to see if she was real and dead.

"Is this the maiden that Wanderer is trying to bring back?" she asked, turning to me.

"Yes, that is my sister. Her name was Devin. And I doubt she was a maiden when she died. She and Wanderer were always slipping away at night to do gods-know-what," I replied, coming over to her with Aslar.

"I can see why he wants her back. She really is so pretty, and she seems so much different from you and Wanderer. She's got a uniqueness about her," Faelin remarked.

"Yeah, and it was because of her uniqueness that she was murdered by Emon. He thought she was a succubus that was going to enslave the men with just a glance and destroy our village when she turned eighteen. He had her sacrificed to the gods to prevent this from happening. Her death was all due to some prophecy that might have been a lie," I told the colossi-turned-humans.

"So Emon's hurt you, too. Then we really aren't that different," Aslar murmured. "I hope that bastard dies of a heart attack for all the evil he has done in the world to the beings like us that live on it. For all the pain he had caused our kind, and evidently yours, he should be killed and burn in the underworld. He deserves not the light of the heavens."

I was going to agree with him, but just then I heard the sound of a running horse coming near the Shrine. I motioned for my friends to be silent and used magic to cloak us so we would not be seen. They followed me as I stealthily slipped down the stairs past a speeding Agro with a Wanderer on his back.

Against what I had thought, Wanderer had not been out hunting for his dinner. His saddle was empty of any kind of game or fruit. So, instead of hunting for food, he must have been hunting for Aslar. He was already looking for the next colossus, and he hadn't even rested that long. Was he trying to wear himself out or get killed? Or was he in a hurry to see if Dormin would keep Their word?

"Whither is that damned colossus, Dormin?" Wanderer shouted. That was the first time I had heard him raise his voice in anger.

His outburst made me halt. I wanted to hear what he would say, although it would probably get us caught. Aslar and Faelin looked questioningly at me, but dared not use their voices when it could mean the worst.

That eerie presence crept into the room. Dormin was back again.

"_**The beast thou seek is not thither because a wicked, blasphemous wench has made it wander from its domain. We are sorry; We did not know the girl could cast such strong spells. Thou are too weak to fight, anyway. Thou must rest."**_

'To hell with rest! I am fit enough!" Wanderer yelled. "Who is this wench you speak of? Tell me whither she is! Tell me whither the colossus is!"

"_**The wench is none other than your friend...Liliane. She followed you hither...She's has been hither just about as long as you have...And she stands in this very room, with both of the colossi that you have left to slay. Only they are in human form, for she has cast unholy spells on them. She has been conversing with the colossi for some time. She has betrayed you."**_

I held my breath, watching Wanderer's reaction to what Dormin had said. He was still angry, but from his expression it seemed that he did not believe the deity. But he did not seem to want to voice his opinion of the former god anymore, as Dormin was his only hope of bringing Devin back from the dead.

"That damned colossus better be whither it belongs tomorrow. I need to kill something," Wanderer growled before walking back to the area with the pool to sleep.

After that, we ran. The whole time, my heart was racing and tears were falling. Wanderer had changed so much since taking on this seemingly impossible mission. His anger came out violently, and he looked forward to killing things now. What the hell had become of my friend?

What had happened to Wanderer?

Was his kind heart the price to pay for trying to bring Devin back?

It seemed that way.

…Oh, what had become of Wanderer?

This thought crossed my mind just seconds before I hit the ground and became unconscious from the exhaustion all that magic use had caused my body.

_Wanderer...What has happened to you...?_

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_A/N: Weird chapter. This was even weirder than with the kids. Where is this story going? No one, not even me, knows for sure. If you've got a comment, please review me. Thank you for reading!_


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: Again, I thank you all for the reviews. I thought the last chapter was a bit weird, but you guys seemed to like it. Yay! Anyway, here's the next chapter to entertain you awesome peoples!_

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Chapter 12

I awoke to the sun after some time. I had no clue how long I had been unconscious, but it couldn't have been more than a couple of days, for Faelin and Aslar were still in human form. Had I been unconscious longer, the spell would have worn off, and they would have been colossi again. They had taken care of me while I was comatose inside one of the smaller shrines, not too far from the Shrine of Worship. The stone floor was uncomfortable, but it served its purpose well. My brow felt wet, so I assumed I had been burning up or something. That was not uncommon—spells usually made my body temperature rise.

Faelin's beautiful face brightened when she saw that I was awake at last. She hugged me tightly after I had moved myself into the seated position, nearly suffocating me to death because she was still so strong. Aslar smirked, but said and did nothing, for he was watching out for Wanderer.

"How long was I out of it?" I asked once Faelin had let me go.

"Nearly two sunrises. We thought you were sick or something. You were so warm," Faelin stated, putting a hand to my forehead to see if it were still true. "You do seem better now. That's a good thing. I didn't know magic could do that to a person. If it's really that dangerous, you shouldn't use it so often."

"No, it's fine. I never really pass out like that unless I overexert myself. I suppose I did too many spells in too little time. I'll be fine, just as long as I don't do that much magic today," I told her.

"Your friend is furious. He hasn't been able to slay me, so he keeps cursing out Dormin," Aslar remarked as Faelin helped me to stand. "Even from hither, we can hear them."

"Dormin deserves it. They gave me away when They promised not to. Well, I shouldn't have been surprised. Dormin is a lousy former god, anyway. They should have been destroyed a long time ago," I muttered.

"Why is Wanderer so angry? And why is he in such a hurry to kill us?" Faelin inquired. "The way you spoke of him, I thought he was such a nice man."

"He was. This mission has changed him. Wanderer has lost his soul because of Dormin—his mind is gone, too. Whither once thither was kindness and care, thither is now anger and hatred. He wanted Devin back so badly that he has lost everything else that ever mattered. Wanderer is gone—he has been replaced by the Hunter." I had never called him that name before, but now thither was nothing else to call him.

"I am sorry that your friend is evil now," Aslar murmured, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder, even though it did not make me feel any better. "But thither is always Jaccen. He is coming, but unfortunately he is not alone. Emon and a few of his other priests are coming with him. Jaccen comes for a reason different than Emon's. But you shall not be alone for much longer."

"What? Emon's coming? He is the reason for all of this!" I snapped. I pulled away from Aslar and glared at him. "What is his reason for coming? Does he know what the Hunter is doing?"

"He assumes that from what Jaccen was forced to tell him. And he is coming to seal the land again, only without using us colossi for living vessels. The Hunter will take our place when we die. And Emon knows you are hither, and he plans on either forcing you home or forcing you to have the same fate as the Hunter," Aslar told me.

"Damn him! Damn him to the underworld!" I shouted, punching the side of the shrine, only to hurt myself and cause little damage to the wall.

"Calm yourself, Liliane. He won't be hither for another few days. Then you can take your frustration out on Emon," Faelin said. "So, it is all right for us to address your friend as the Hunter now? I do not want to be confused."

"My friend is dead. The Hunter has taken over his body. Wanderer is gone now," I murmured, tears in my eyes. They were not brought about by the pain I had inflicted upon myself, but from Wanderer's change of heart and Emon's journey. Upon seeing that Aslar was staring at me, I quickly wiped them away and hid my eyes in the shadow of my hair. "We should get you back to your homes, before the Hunter gets any angrier. Let's go to the Storm first, just in case the Hunter lies in wait for you at the Fallen City, all right?"

Aslar and Faelin nodded. Murmuring the incantation necessary for teleportation, I took their hands again, but did not look at them. My heart had fallen, and the empty void was calling me to return to it. But I did not give in this time; I had to be around long enough to see what happened when the Hunter—not Wanderer—killed Faelin, the last colossus. Would Devin be brought back from the dead, or would this whole thing have been for nothing?

Would losing Wanderer have been for nothing?

I had to know.

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Faelin was back whither she had been imprisoned, in the Storm. She was back in colossus form, and had loomed over us. She had been smiling before the transformation, but now her stone face was stuck in a scowl. It was not her own doing—that was how the gods had created her face. She thanked me for the human experience, even though she had been unable to do much with me unconscious. Then I left with the still-human Aslar via teleportation to return him to the Fallen City.

Even when we reached the place, thither was still some walking to be done. The whole time we walked, I remained silent; thinking, always thinking. Aslar was usually silent, so his part was now the same as mine.

Wanderer had been changing for awhile now; I had just been too preoccupied to really notice. His skin had been taking on a gray tint, and his eyes had been growing darker. The wounds he received from his battles with the colossi never really healed anymore. And he was always after the next colossus before one was aware of it. At first, he had been slow to go after such huge creatures, but now he was all but eager. These were all signs of his transition from Wanderer to the Hunter; I just hadn't realized it before.

The mission was the main cause for such changes, but thither were underlying causes as well. The death of his lover, Devin, was the major underlying cause. Her death had been what had made him want to come to the Forbidden Lands and meet Dormin in the first place. Her death was the result of Emon and his damned prophecy that had portrayed Devin as a succubus that would have destroyed the village. He had her killed in a sacrificial way to ward off this false prophecy. It would not be too far off to say that Emon was to blame for the shift from Wanderer to the Hunter.

But that was still a little off.

Someone had known what Emon was planning, yet did not tell Wanderer what would be happening to Devin. She had kept it a secret for a reason even she could not think of at the moment. Death would have never come to Devin had she told him, and then Wanderer would have never come to the Forbidden Lands, and Dormin would have never told him to kill the colossi. She was the root of the problem, the reason that, in the words of people in the twenty-first century, all hell was breaking loose. Who was this horrible person that had caused all this to happen?

She was me.

I was the reason that Wanderer had become the Hunter. If I had just told him that Emon was planning on killing Devin, then he would have run off with us to somewhere safe. None of this murdering would have happened. If I hadn't such a stupid little girl, Wanderer would still be himself, and Devin would have never died, and we would be happily together. The colossi would be safe—none of them would have been killed. Everything would have been the way it should have been.

This was all my fault.

"…I'm sorry, Aslar," I murmured when we neared whither he would be staying until the Hunter killed him.

"What for? You've done nothing wrong," Aslar stated, giving me a weird look.

"Yes I have…I've done everything wrong. I'm the reason everyone is dying…I'm the reason that Wanderer has become the Hunter. I'm the reason that Sleneyn is dead. This is all my doing, and I did not even mean for this all to happen. I'm sorry," I whispered.

"What do you mean? You haven't killed anyone, and you most certainly did not make your friend turn evil. This is all Dormin's doing, not yours," Aslar said brusquely, trying to make me think differently.

"Wanderer would have never come hither if I had told him that Emon wanted to kill Devin. I knew it because I was to be one of Emon's priestesses, and he had announced her sacrificial murder to us all days before it happened. If I had told Wanderer then, we would have been gone from the village long before she was due to die. And then he never would have come to these lands, never would have sought Dormin's help to being Devin back, never would have killed your kind, and never would have changed into a monster. You see? This is all my fault. I do not expect forgiveness, but I just had to tell someone before it was too late to get it out. I'm sorry, Aslar. I'm so, so sorry. If I could go back in time and change things, I-"

Aslar had put a finger to my lips, silencing me. His expression was unreadable, and his eyes weren't showing anything like they had when he was a colossus. My connection to him from when our minds had melded wasn't any help, either. I could not tell what he was thinking or why he had silenced me. But I would soon find out.

"You are not at fault hither. You made a little mistake nearly a sun cycle ago—you can't be to blame for things that have been happening for only a few moon cycles. The only person to blame for what is transpiring is Dormin. They are why everything is going wrong, Them and Them alone. So stop blaming yourself. You're too good a person to be blaming yourself for anything," Aslar said.

For some reason, his words had an affect on me. They made sense. Had not Dormin been banished to the Forbidden Lands, then Wanderer would have had no reason to come hither, anyway. Sure, Devin would still have been dead and thither would have been no real hope of bringing her back, but at least Wanderer would have been the same. He would not have turned into a monster, no doubt. He would have been heartbroken, but he would have still been thither for me and the other villagers.

"Thank you for believing in me, Aslar," I murmured, giving him a wan smile.

"You are welcome, Liliane." Aslar returned my smile, and did something unexpected of someone like him. He stroked my face. "You remind me so much of my Sleneyn, you know? You both are so beautiful, and you both found ways to put the blame of horrible events of the world on your shoulders. You both have such big hearts, and care so much about others. Perhaps that's why I like you so much, Liliane. Perhaps that's why."

He put his lips on my cheek. I felt my face grow warm the moment he had started comparing me to his beloved Sleneyn, but his lips were warmer than my face could have ever been. It was a simple gesture, yet it was the first time I had been kissed on the cheek by someone I actually tolerated. I did not know how to react to that.

"I believe you should turn me back into my colossus form now, before I start saying anything else that might make you fall for me and not Jaccen," Aslar muttered, pulling away from me. His expression was awkward and flustered. "And do it quick, before I forget that I love Sleneyn and not you."

I did as he told me, telling him through our mental connection that the feelings probably came from him turning human and that they weren't really real. He doubted it the whole time, even when he was towering over me as a colossus a few seconds later. But I brushed it off and turned my back to him, smiling the whole time.

"Goodbye, Aslar. I'm sorry that you will have to meet Sleneyn again in death. Hopefully, your human feelings for me will have faded by then. Otherwise, I'm sure Sleneyn will kick your ass up thither in the heavens," I said, walking away.

I heard him laughing as I left, but it was only mental laughter that echoed through my head. _**And I hope you and Jaccen meet and have many children without him finding out that you were kissed by a colossus. That would just dull your relationship with him by about as much as that husband of yours did.**_

_Don't remind me of him. He can die for all I care. You, however, can't. And Jaccen..._

_**Don't tell me about him! I can't stand girly conversations!**_

_Well, I can't stand colossus conversations! They're always getting in my head!_

Aslar laughed, both mentally and out loud. Evidently, he thought I was funny, beautiful, and stubborn.

And he liked me because I reminded him of Sleneyn.

At least he had a good last day before the Hunter came to take him from the world.

Even if it was with me.

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"_Wanderer? Is magic bad?" a young girl, no older than fifteen, asked while she was learning to ride a horse from the same man that had taught her so much already._

"_Depends on who you ask," Wanderer replied from whither he sat on the back of Agro._

"_I'm asking you, you silly man," she said, gently kicking her horse in the sides so that she could run at the side of Wanderer. "Do you think that magic's bad? Do you think that it should have never existed in the first place? Did the people from your land do magic? Please tell me."_

"_Do you think that you asked enough questions?" Wanderer teased, a smile on his lips. "Well, Liliane, I think that magic can be good or bad, depending on who uses it. Magic exists for a reason, even if some people don't think it is necessary. Some magic should never have been discovered, like the magic to kill or poison or change the past, but other forms of magic can be beneficial in good ways. And yes, some of the people from my land did do magic. I never learned, though. Why did you ask about magic, anyway?"_

"_...I found an old scroll in my parents' things. It was written in an old language of our people, one that my father had taught me and my sister. It was all about spells and magic. I think my parents were spellcasters. I wanted to know if it was good or bad to cast spells because I want to do magic, too," Liliane admitted._

"_If that is what you want to do, then I won't stop you. Just don't let Lord Emon hear of it, or you might get into some serious trouble," Wanderer said. "And don't do anything evil with magic, either. Magic has two possible outcomes: good and evil. Some magic is good, but some magic is also inevitably evil."_

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_A/N: The end of another chapter. What did you think? Am I taking turns in this story that are confusing you? Do you think I'm not sticking to the point and traveling too far from the storyline? Well, whatever your opinion, tell me. Reviewing doesn't take that long, so please be kind and tell me what you are thinking right now. Thank you._


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: I've been updating this story a lot lately, but that's only because I have completed all my other major multi-chapter stories. I'm nearing the end of this story, too. Take that as a good sign or a bad sign; I won't judge you. I never imagined Shadow of the Colossus being a category on Fan-Fiction, never imagined that I would write a story for it, and most certainly never expected it to turn out the way it has. I can't ask for anything more. Thank you all, and to show you how grateful I am, here is another chapter._

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Chapter 13

Aslar had died shortly after returning to the Fallen City. I had not been thither; I had left without thinking of what might happen afterwards. The only thing that alerted me of my foolish mistake was his death cry sun motions later, when I was safe within the walls of a small shrine. After that, I had pulled my knees to my chest and wept, with Faelin telling me things in my head as I did so.

She was the last of the original colossi; she was the only thing that stood between the Hunter and the completion of his mission. I gave her two days before he came after her.

Amethyst found me while I was wandering absentmindedly through the Forbidden Lands. I did not know what I was doing, walking out in the open like that, but I supposed that I know longer cared if the Hunter saw me. Dormin had already blown my cover, anyway. Even if the Hunter did not believe Them, hiding wasn't as important as before. But I had nowhere to go because Coldheart would not have welcomed me into the cavern whither he and his siblings dwelled. With only Faelin alive, I was nearly an outcast.

Once again, I was alone.

I was always alone.

Amethyst followed me when I did not mount her, the steady beat of her hooves on the ground the only sound in my solitude. Thither were no other creatures around—thither were no birds to sing and fill the silence with music. It was as if the deaths of the colossi had silenced the entire Forbidden Lands. That would not have surprised me. The gods themselves had created the colossi from the earth, as so they had been the earth itself. Life had come to these lands because of the colossi. Would it not make sense that death would come because of the colossi as well?

I crept down to the area right in front of whither the Temple of the Flame Guardian was, whither laid a large pool of water. When Melanine was still alive, this pool of water had been full of life. But now…It was as empty as ever. Not even the bodies that would have been thither when the fish died were present—it was as if they had just disappeared. But I had not ventured down hither with Amethyst following me to look for life. I was hither to think and look at myself on the outside this time.

This place had changed Wanderer's identity the most, but it was not as if I had remained immune to the effects. My skin was darker than it used to be, and my eyes were dimmer than I remembered. I had grown a bit taller with age, and had also filled out a bit more in the bosom area. My golden hair was longer—it extended close to my bottom now. My face was more like a woman's than ever before, but it was also very sullen, especially around the eyes. How much I had grown since coming to the Forbidden Lands, and perhaps even before then.

The long hair held too many memories, for some strange reasons. Perhaps that was due to the fact that my hair had been long for as long as I had known Wanderer. That, and my brute husband had pulled it a lot when I was disobeying him. And Emon disliked it and thought that all women's hair should have been shoulder-length, no longer. He always hated me for keeping it long. The old Liliane would have never dreamed of cutting it short because she was so rebellious against Emon, but I was no longer her. I would not be cutting my hair for Emon…I would be cutting it to lose the horrible memories that it reminded me of.

I pulled my sword out of its scabbard, which was attached to my waist by a sash. Holding my golden hair carefully in front of me, I took the blade to it, taking care to make the hair even so I would not look weird. Take heed, I am not vain, but getting a weird haircut is enough to hurt anyone's pride. When I had finished, my hair was slightly above my shoulders, and the pieces that had been removed were in a pile at my feet.

"What do you think? Did I do a good job?" I asked, turning to Amethyst, who was just staring at me like she could not believe what I had just done.

"I think you did a beautiful job," an all-too familiar voice said.

My heart nearly leaped out of my chest when I heard that voice. My face instantly grew hot as I turned to face the fair-haired priest that I had once beaten up for information (Chapter 2, if you have forgotten).

"…Jaccen…," I murmured, too shocked and happy and so many other things to say anything else.

_I guess Aslar was right. Jaccen really did come,_ I thought, staring straight into his beautiful brown eyes.

He, too, had grown since the last time I had seen him. Jaccen was taller, and seemed to be a bit more muscular than I remembered. I doubted that I would be able to beat him up now. His skin was tan, but not nearly as tan as mine, although we were both light as far as darkness goes. His face had turned into that of a man, but that did not take away his handsomeness. His light hair was still clinging to his head…He never liked to let it grow out. But thither was something horrible about him, something that I noticed right away.

He had scars on him.

They looked like they had been inflicted by whips not too long ago. Who had hurt him? Was it Emon and his priests? And had they done it to get the information about Wanderer and me out of him? When I saw Emon…Let us just say evil things would happen.

"Jaccen…what has happened to you? Why are you scarred? And why are you hither? Are Emon and his other priests hither, too?" So many questions came out so fast. I was genuinely concerned for him.

"I am alone. Emon is a few days behind me. As to what has happened to me…," Jaccen murmured, looking down at his scarred arms, "Emon wanted information from me about Wanderer and you. So he allowed your husband to whip me until I told him what he wanted to know. Your husband really wasn't happy that you had left him. But he did not come to get you with Emon. He stayed in the village because Emon thought he would be too violent."

"…You still haven't answered one of my questions. Why did you come hither?" I repeated, my heart beating fast as I anticipated his response.

He smiled at me as he took both my hands in his. His skin felt so warm against mine, but definitely not as warm as Aslar. Jaccen looked right into my eyes, and I felt myself blush, but I forced myself not to look away. He was a little nervous himself. It was evident in the way he moved and how his eyes kept shifting away from mine.

"I came because I could not live without you any longer. And I could not let Emon come for you. I just couldn't. I love you too much to let your get hurt anymore," Jaccen stated, smiling nervously. "You've been through so much already because of Emon. He should not be allowed to interfere with your life anymore." He ran a hand through my now short hair, and I could feel his love with every caress. "…You're more beautiful than I remembered."

I could not stop myself from putting my lips onto his, something I had never really done before without being forced. His lips felt so soft compared to the ones that had belonged to my brute of a husband, and I melted into him. Jaccen, although he probably hadn't been prepared for this, kissed back with as much passion as I was putting into it. Weird how two priests could love like this, right? It was forbidden for priests or priestesses to have husbands or wives, but who cared anymore? All I wanted to do was be with Jaccen, and the way he was embracing me told me that he felt the same way.

When we had at last broke apart due to lack of air, we sat down near the water's edge, holding each other in our arms. It felt so good to be held after everything that had happened to me since finding out about my sister's to-be murder. I knew I was loved and never alone because wherever I went, Jaccen was sure to follow. His warm body against mine felt so amazing, it was almost overwhelming.

"Whither is Wanderer?" Jaccen asked after a few moments of blissful silence had passed.

"…He's changed, Jaccen. He's no longer the same man," I whispered, feeling the tears again as I thought of who Wanderer had become.

I had the terrible job of telling Jaccen all that had happened since I had taken off from the village. Wanderer's near-death experience whither I had used magic to save him and Agro, following him into the Forbidden Lands, meeting the accursed Dormin, watching Wanderer slay four colossi, meeting with the other colossi, discovering they were intelligent beings with good hearts, watching them die one by one at Wanderer's hand, watching him turn into the Hunter, turning Aslar and Faelin human for a couple of days, having my cover blown by Dormin, learning how much Wanderer had changed…I told Jaccen almost everything. The one thing I left out was Melanine and Lionheart's children. I figured that their existence was not a necessary fact to tell him. They had trusted me and me alone to take care of their children. Best to keep them a secret.

Jaccen listened to me without a word—he was always so good at listening. When I had finished my tale with the death of Aslar, he placed his hand on my face and wiped away the tears I hadn't realized I was shedding. His face was more serious than I would have expected. But then again, he always took everything seriously.

"Wanderer's not a bad person. He just wanted a chance to see Devin alive again. But in doing so, he has lost his soul. Who knows what will happen when Wanderer slays the last colossus. Will he get his soul back, or is he lost forever?" Jaccen wondered aloud. Then he looked down at me. "I'm sorry you have suffered so much. If I had known that Wanderer would have changed so much by coming hither, I never would have given him the information on the Forbidden Lands. I'm sorry, Liliane. I really am."

"It's all right. Thither is nothing we can do now, but wait to see what shall transpire. I love you, Jaccen," I added quickly, attempting to change the subject as I did not like speaking of Wanderer and the Hunter at all.

Jaccen must have sensed my dislike of the subject, for he pulled me closer and held me tight, covering my face in angelic kisses. "I love you, too, Liliane."

Our love for each other consumed us before we knew it. The old Liliane might have shied away if Jaccen had ever intended of doing anything with her, but I was not her. I was not a girl but a woman, and Jaccen was not a boy but a man. Liliane the woman was willing to give herself to Jaccen the man, even if the circumstances weren't exactly pleasant. Jaccen the man was willing to take her if that was what she really wanted. She slipped out of her gown and he removed his own clothes.

Let me just say that we did not leave that lakeside until the next morning.

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Two days later, Faelin died.

I had not been thither, as I was with Jaccen inside the Shrine of Worship. According to him, Emon and his priests should have been arriving that day. That was why we were waiting within the unholy grounds of that accursed shrine, which had been built by the original colossi to please the former god Dormin. In the end, doing so had been their undoing. Dormin did not bother us, but They were ever present. I could feel the eeriness that came about only when the deity was near.

Her death scream echoed throughout the Forbidden Lands, chilling me to the bone. I began to shiver even though it wasn't the slightest bit cold. Jaccen noticed and wrapped his arms around me. It helped a little, but not enough to cease my trembling. And for some reason, I had this terrible feeling that something bad had happened to Agro.

Suddenly, Emon and four of his most trusted priest-warriors came charging through the door that had been my entrance into these lands. They ordered their horses to run down the long spiral that would bring them to ground level. Faelin's Idol had not yet broken apart, but it was going to happen soon. I stood protectively at Jaccen's side, behind the altar that had Devin's body on it. Emon was against us both now, so if he even dared to try to hurt Jaccen, I would strike him and his priests down with magic. Simple as that.

As soon as they had entered the sunlight part of the Shrine, Faelin's Idol glowed and fell apart with a loud crack that rivaled thunder. The priests muttered about how bad a sign that was before they turned their attention on us. Emon still looked as old as ever, even though he was wearing some sort of mask from our village.

"You allowed Wanderer to do this? How dare you! You both should be ashamed of yourselves! May the gods curse you to the underworld, for you will never atone for what you've done!" Emon hissed.

"Silence, you bastard! You're the reason all of this has come to pass! Had you not used the colossi to seal Dormin in these lands, then Wanderer would not have had to slay them! Had you not murdered my sister, he would not have ever thought about coming hither! This is all your damn fault! If anyone should be cursed to the underworld, it should be you!" I snapped, eyes burning.

That silenced him. But then he looked down at the altar and cursed.

"How did she get hither? Did Wanderer steal her body from the Altar of the Gods all that time ago? Damn! It all makes sense now!" Emon shouted. "He came hither in hopes of bringing this wench back, did he? What a fool!"

"DON'T YOU CALL DEVIN A WENCH!" I yelled, punching Emon right in the face. Jaccen had moved to restrain me, but had been a moment too slow. Emon fell onto his old back. I would have never dreamed of hitting an elder before, but he was not worthy of respect. "BASTARD!"

His priests trained their crossbows on me, but I did not care. One word, and I could destroy them all. Emon staggered to his feet, but he told his priests to lower their weapons. His mask had been knocked off; I stared him straight in the eye.

"Do you not know that now Dormin will destroy us all because of what Wanderer has done? We are all dead," Emon remarked.

"I shall believe that when I see it," I muttered.

At that moment, Wanderer's body fell from the sky, transported hither by Dormin. He looked dead, and that hellish blue sword that had been used to take so many lives clattered to the floor several feet away from his unmoving body. I gasped when I saw him like this—never before had he looked this way after a battle with a colossus.

Then the sixteen shadow figures that I had encountered the first time I had come hither appeared, seeping out of the ground around Wanderer. Somehow, his body was getting up, and he looked out at us. But his eyes were not his own. They were gray and clouded.

"Look at him! He is being controlled by the darkness! Put him out of his misery!" Emon shouted at his men.

One of the priests trained their crossbow on Wanderer as he stumbled towards the altar whither his dead love laid. I wanted to scream, but my voice would not work. The bolt was shot, and it hit Wanderer in his thigh. He fell to the ground from the pain. The same priest picked up the hellish blue sword and held it above Wanderer's heart in the sacrificial way. Then he stabbed down.

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_A/N: Cliffhanger! What did you think? Do you think I'm a pervert now? I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it. Well, whatever you think, tell me. Thank you for reading! And, by the way, the next chapter will be the last one. Triforce, your name will be used then, I promise. Until then, goodbye, and happy reading!_


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: Last chapter! This ought to be a hit, since a lot of things are going to be happening. Try to keep up, and if you get lost...I'm sorry. Thank you all for making it this far, and I hope that I have entertained you for as long as it took you to read all of this. Read on to discover the fate of Wanderer, Liliane, Emon, Devin, Jaccen, Dormin, and the colossi!_

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Chapter 14

I heard myself scream as the sword stabbed into Wanderer's chest. His face became distorted with pain, but somehow, he did not die. He managed to get to his feet, even with a sword sticking out of his chest. The priests gave him space, frightened that Wanderer had not been killed by the sword. I, too, was shocked, but I was not afraid. He might have been possessed by the evil deity Dormin, but it did not matter. I could see what he wanted, and it was not to harm us.

Wanderer staggered towards the altar whither Devin lay in eternal sleep. Jaccen and I stood behind it, so he saw us, too. The moment his clouded eyes landed on me, I caught a flicker of recognition and concern flash through them. Perhaps Wanderer was not completely lost in himself; perhaps he was questioning whether Dormin had been telling the truth about me before. But he did not focus on me long. He only had eyes for Devin.

Before he came too close to the altar, he stopped. His hands grabbed the hilt of the hellish blue sword. I immediately knew what he was planning to do and wanted to shout and tell him not to, for it would be a mistake, but he was much quicker than my voice. Wanderer pulled the blade from his heart. Black blood splattered everywhere, and he began to be enveloped in darkness.

"WANDERER!" I screamed, wanting to run to him, but fear holding me back.

He looked over in my direction, but it was too late. He was going to be consumed by the darkness and taken over by Dormin. I nearly fell to my knees with this realization, but Jaccen was thither, and he held me up with a firm arm around the waist.

Wanderer began to transform. I should say that Dormin transformed, for the figure of my friend quickly disappeared in the shadows that belonged to the former god. They became as large as a colossus, and sort of took a little of the form from each of the now-dead colossi. They were not solid earth-created beings—They were just a shadowy and wispy form. Thither were some things a part of this new Dormin look that had not been a part of the colossi, but I assumed that Dormin had just added them to give the appearance of power.

"_**We have taken the body of this fallen warrior, as We are now free again, thanks to him! Thou shall all suffer, for what thou have done to both him and Us! Beware, Almighty Emon and Liliane the Witch! Thou shall never leave this place alive!"**_

Oddly enough, I wasn't filled with fear from Dormin's threat. Neither was Jaccen. He knew I could not be hurt by Dormin, as I had magic to protect the both of us. I only hoped that Dormin spoke candidly about Emon—I did not really want the old priest to get out of hither alive.

The shadowy creature that was Dormin swung an extremely well-muscled arm that might have been modeled from Aslar's down at the priests and Emon. It missed, but the shaking that it caused afterward was enough to make them stumble a bit. Jaccen nearly fell, but he grabbed the side of the altar before that could happen. If he had fallen, he would have taken me with him, as he still had his arm around my waist.

"Liliane! You and Jaccen stay back! We do not need you interfering with us while we seal this accursed deity away!" hissed Emon as he hurried away from Dormin. "Watch how a real priest handles situations like this!"

His priests whipped out their crossbows and started shooting bolts at Dormin. They roared in pain, but it did not stop Them from trying to hurt the men again. One priest secretly stole away from the group while Dormin was distracted, heading straight for the sacred ritual/ hellish sword. He grabbed it before Dormin took notice. The deity tried to hit him, but he rolled away before the blow could hurt.

The priests slowly made their way for the exit, their horses already halfway up the spiral walkway. They kept shooting bolts at Dormin, even though they knew full well that someone as large as Dormin could not pursue them after they reached that small opening that led to the area with the small pool of water. Dormin continued to launch fist attacks at them, each time failing to do any damage to the men. The floor was pummeled from Their fist. But that did not matter.

Once the men were out of Their range, Dormin roared angrily. They turned and set Their sights on the only two people who hadn't left during all the chaos. Now who would those two lucky people be?

They ran towards us as fast as Their spidery legs would allow, seeking to kill us. I murmured an incantation quickly under my breath. Their fist came down. It had no effect on us—I had put up a magical shield that surrounded both Jaccen and me. They swore and tried to break it, but failed.

"Liliane! Hurry! You do not want to be sealed in these lands with Dormin! Hurry now!" Emon urged, standing at the small opening in the wall.

I wanted to laugh. He really expected me to go back to the village that had treated me badly ever since my parents died? He really expected me to go back with _him_, the man who blamed me for Dormin's release and who had slaughtered my sister and was planning to use Wanderer as a living vessel to keep Dormin's power at bay, to name a few things he had done? He must have been insane to think I'd ever go back after all the pain he had caused my friends and me. Very delusional.

"No! I'll never go back! I'd rather be sealed in these lands and die than go back to that place! And I especially would never go back with _you_, bastard!" I shouted. "Go on and seal these lands and leave without me! I'll take my chances with the damned monster trying to kill me, seeing as They are not that different from you!"

Emon was too far back for me to be certain, but I thought I saw him frown or his expression turn to that of an angry man. "And I suppose the same could be said for you, Jaccen?"

Jaccen said nothing; he just gave a small nod, not caring if Emon saw it or not. Emon seemed to take the hint, for he turned around and ran up the spiral walkway without another moment's hesitation. Now all that remained with my lover and I were a dead girl and a killer deity monstrosity.

I extended my magical shield to protect Devin; thither was still a chance that she could come back. Dormin seemed to pity Wanderer, for They had said, _**"Thou shall all suffer, for what thou have done to both him and Us!"**_ That intended that Dormin cared about my friend, so I assumed that that meant They would go through with Their word. But then again, evil deities were tricky creatures, and They might have been bluffing the whole time.

Emon made it to the top of the spiral walkway. Only one priest, the one who had grabbed the sword, remained, holding the weapon and the reins of two horses. The others were already making their way back across the bridge, not wanting to stick around long enough to see what happened to Dormin. Emon took the sword from the priest's hand and ordered him to go. The priest mounted the dark horse and urged it to run onto the long bridge. Emon was left alone, holding the sword.

"I am the Priest of the Gods! It is my hand that had confined the evil to these lands once before! And it is I who shall confine it to these lands again! Thou shall never escape! I seal these lands with the sacred blade! May thou rot in this place for all eternity!" Emon exclaimed before throwing the sword down towards the small pool of water below. (Okay, not exactly the words used in the game, but you can't expect me to remember them, can you?) Then he mounted his pure white horse and followed his priests.

A blindly light was the result of the sword landing in the water. Jaccen and I were forced to look away for a few moments lest we wanted to lose our sight. When the light died down, a powerful wind began to whistle through the Shrine of Worship, originating from the pool of water itself. Dormin was fighting the pull, as it was strong only for Them, but They were failing. The shadows were being stripped from Them with ever passing moment—They began to look less and less like a colossus and more and more like a man. After awhile, They looked like a dark form of Wanderer. The shadows were not as dark as they had been before; we could clearly see him. It was just that some of the shadows were still clinging to his figure.

Dormin continued to fight it even when They had almost been completely torn from my friend's body. They used his body to try to run, but the wind was stronger. The distance between Wanderer's body and the pool decreased quickly, and soon thither was no way out. Wanderer's body was pulled back into the pool.

Another moment of blinding light, and Wanderer was gone, along with the sword. I wanted to run to see if that was absolutely true, but my body wasn't obeying me. My legs felt like deadweights—I would have collapsed had it not been for Jaccen holding me up. He helped me to walk away from Devin's altar, closer to the stairs so that I could sit.

_Why do I feel so heavy all of a sudden?_ I wondered, holding my head in my hands because I also had a headache from out of nowhere. _It's not just in the body...But in the heart, too. It's as if something's tugging...Something evil._

_**That's Dormin's connection to you. Emon is using you as a living vessel to harness Their power,**_ Aslar's voice told me.

_Aslar! How can you be speaking to me? You are dead._

_**Of course I'm dead. I'm in the spirit realm part of the heavens. Your connection to Dormin has made it possible for me to converse with you. Besides, we've been mentally in tune before. I've been in your mind ever since Death took me. You just couldn't hear me for one reason or another.**_

I was slightly embarrassed that he had been in my mind during my intimate moment with Jaccen, but that wasn't important at the moment. _Did Emon make Jaccen a living vessel since Wanderer is now gone?_

_**I'm afraid so. And he's made Devin one as well.**_

_Devin? But...But she is dead._

_**Check again, Lily.**_

I looked back at Devin's altar, and nearly toppled over at what I saw. Devin was sitting up, her beautiful dark eyes wide open. Her white gown and night-black hair blew lightly in the wind that remained, giving her an almost angelic look. She slowly became aware of her surroundings, blinking in surprise to find herself in a place she had never seen before, and also to be alive. No doubt she remembered having a sword plunge into her chest nearly a sun cycle ago.

_**Looks like Dormin kept Their word for once.**_

I was barely aware of him speaking as I hurried to get to my feet. Devin was already standing by the time that I reached her. I wrapped my arms around her, not caring that she was still a bit colder than normal. She was my sister, and she was alive. That was all that mattered.

She was surprised to see me, that much I could tell from the expression on her face when I released her. Then she looked around for something I was not aware of, something only she knew about.

"Whither are we? And whither is Wanderer? And why am I alive again?" Devin asked, looking at me again.

So, once again, I had to tell the long story of the Forbidden Lands and Wanderer and Dormin. Jaccen helped me this time, since he was fully aware of the tale just as much as I was. Devin listened without raising her voice, and it struck me with awe that she had remained the same even after escaping the clutches of death. Some time during our story, Agro limped in, one of his hind legs injured for some reason I did not know. We halted in our telling to check on him, but he seemed too preoccupied to notice us. He continued to limp over towards the now empty area whither thither had once been a pool of water. We followed him. Amethyst had wandered in after him, so she came along, too.

When Agro managed to reach the basin, we received the shock of our lives. A baby boy with brown hair and little black horns on his head was lying in the empty basin that had once held water, crying quietly. Devin picked him up in her arms and cooed the child as I just looked at him in amazement. Something about that baby reminded me of Wanderer. But how could that be?

_**The sealing of these lands turned him into a child again. Blame it on Dormin taking over his body. If They had not, then Wanderer would have remained a man. And this baby form of your friend is also a living vessel for Dormin.**_

_(Sigh.) Emon really hasn't learned, had he?_

_**It doesn't appear that way, does it?**_

_So we're all going to be holding onto Dormin's power until we die?_

_**Perhaps…or…?**_

_Or what?_

_**Well, you're a bright little witch. I'm sure you can figure out what you could do. A person who has the power to change colossi into humans should have enough power to reverse Emon's curse and destroy a certain little nuisance.**_

_...You want me to unseal the lands, return Wanderer into a human, and kill Dormin, who was a god at one point?_

_**That about sums it up.**_

_First off, how am I supposed to kill an immortal deity? Secondly, I would need more power than my own to unseal the Forbidden Lands. Returning Wanderer to what he once was would be easy. But all that other stuff...I can't do it. Not alone, anyway._

_**Who said you would be doing it alone?**_

_What do you mean?_

_**The other colossi and I will lend you our strength so that you can kill Dormin and unseal the lands, and also bring us back to life.**_

_...I'm sorry. How can I bring back the dead? That has nothing to do with what Emon did._

_**No, but you, with our help, can undo Dormin's wicked deeds that caused us to die. Devin will remain alive, but we will be granted life again as well. In exchange for the life of Dormin, of course. And thither will be one more source of assistance for your magic, Lily.**_

_Who?_

_**The gods themselves.**_

_Really? Why?_

_**They've been wanting to get rid of Dormin for quite some time now. They just could not find a spellcaster powerful enough to take care of Them. Then you came around, and at last thither was one worthy of channeling the gods' energy. You don't think that fate led you hither only to watch over Wanderer, do you? The gods destined you to come hither, destined you to be the one to rid the world and cosmos alike of the existence of Dormin. Now follow through with your destiny, Liliane, and allow us to help you.**_

I looked at those around me who were now bound to Dormin like I was and the colossi had been. Jaccen, my newly found lover who understood me more than anyone, even my sister and Wanderer, ever did. Devin, the only family I had left who had just come back from the spirit realm. Wanderer, who had given up everything to bring back Devin and had been turned into a baby due to some bad decisions on both his part and Emon's. They all probably felt the same tug on their hearts as I, felt the same heaviness. Agro, who was not bound to Dormin, had hurt his leg somehow because of what Dormin had forced his master to do. Amethyst, the only healthy unbound one of us, was hurting on the inside from seeing the only other horse she knew hurt (Jaccen had a horse, too, but it was outside and unfamiliar to Amethyst).

Many of those people had suffered enough already. Living a life attached to an evil deity would just worsen things. I knew what I had to do.

Murmuring an incantation that just came to me from out of nowhere, I began to draw the power necessary to do everything Aslar had wanted me to do. The tug on my heart made grasping Dormin easier, and although They tried to fight it, it was futile. The power of all sixteen colossi joined in to help with Dormin's destruction and the unsealing of the lands and the restoring of Wanderer, making the spell work better than I imagined. I felt the infinite powers of the gods flowing through me and directed it in the three places it needed to go: throughout the lands, towards Dormin, and to Wanderer. The Triforce of Power was too powerful to put into words; I felt weightless and as if nothing existed, not even me.

According to the others, I had a bright white aura surrounding me the whole time I had been casting the spell. My eyes had turned pure white, and my short golden hair had been blowing violently around my head. I was too busy to know if this was true or huge exaggeration.

A blinding light enveloped the whole Shrine again, temporarily blinding everyone. When at last we could see again, nothing seemed different. I had collapsed to the floor, completely drained, but still feeling the effects of the Triforce. Jaccen rushed over and lifted me off the ground. I supposed he thought that I could not have stood after such an amazing feat. Even if at first glance nothing seemed different, second glance took in more, for we all looked at whither Devin was standing.

Wanderer was back the way he belonged, as a man. He stood in front of her, which would have been all right…If it were not for the fact that he was missing something. As a baby, he had been naked, but that had been fine since it was a babe and not a man. But now it was quite disturbing. It wasn't often that grown men went around without their clothes.

"Well now…Isn't this a nice way to be reunited," I murmured, looking away from Wanderer, blushing. Everyone else was red in the face, too. It was best if Wanderer found clothes as quickly as possible. "When I came hither, I brought a spare set of clothes for you, just in case something happened, although I wasn't expecting anything like this. I believe I have them packed away in the nearest shrine outside of this one. Someone, please go get them for him before we all die from embarrassment."

Devin rushed out to do so, since Wanderer was a bit inconvenienced and Jaccen had his arms full. Wanderer was still a bit out of it because he had just gone through two transformations in so little time. But when he finally became aware of himself, he spun around to face me. I tried to ignore the fact that he was without clothes and looked him in the face.

"You were hither all this time, Liliane?" he asked, his voice soft as it had been before he had come to the Forbidden Lands. When I nodded, he pressed on with, "So was Dormin speaking the truth when They said you had been conversing with the colossi and were in the Shrine with the last two that one day?"

"Yes, but I swear, I did not betray you," I stated. "I will tell you everything about me coming hither later, when I recover from killing Dormin and doing other things…"

"Who brought Devin back, you or Dormin?" Wanderer inquired.

"Dormin, but that was only because They were sympathetic to you," I muttered.

Devin came running in, holding in her arms a white version of Wanderer's other shirt and a pair of dark shorts, along with sandals similar to the ones he had worn before. He quickly put them on so that we would not have to see him exposed a moment longer.

"Thither are giant creatures gathering around the Shrine," Devin informed us, not knowing if she should be frightened or not, since she had been dead for nearly a sun cycle.

"The colossi! They really did come back!" I exclaimed, happy more than anything.

"…Damn…I don't have the sword anymore," Wanderer grumbled.

"No, no. They won't harm you. They are our friends, I promise. They helped me to kill Dormin and unseal the lands and return you from baby to man. They are good creatures that only fought you because they did not wish to die," I explained. "Come on, let us go greet them."

Devin, Wanderer, and Jaccen, still holding me, walked towards the exit of the Shrine of Worship. Agro, whose leg had miraculously healed from the effects of the Triforce, and Amethyst followed, no longer afraid of the creatures who were much larger than them. Even the children colossi were thither. We all stared up the colossi without fear, as we were all together now, in these lands.

"_**Thank you for what you've done, Liliane. You have given life back to us and restored our freedom, and for that, we shall be forever in your debt," **_Faelin stated, bowing slightly although it was hard for someone her size to do. _**"Killing Dormin is one deed we shall never forget, no matter how much time passes over these lands. May the gods bless you for all you have done for colossi and mankind alike."**_

"_**Wanderer, your actions have been forgiven. You have no need to fear that we will harm you, for what you did was out of love. Undying love is the strongest kind, and it would be wrong for us to hate someone who just wanted someone as beautiful as Devin back. Don't you forget that," **_Freelancer said from his location in the sky.

"_**And Jaccen...You'd better treat Liliane right. Or else I'll be forced to kick your ass,"**_ Lionheart warned, a hint of a teasing smile in his eyes.

"I'll remember that," Jaccen chuckled, placing his lips on my forehead.

"The bridge is gone. It must have been destroyed by Dormin while Emon was trying to escape. Thither is no way out of the Forbidden Lands now, and no way in, either," Wanderer pointed out.

"Who wants to leave? We are outcasts in the world now, anyway. Besides, I've grown rather attached to this place and those who live hither. I would like to stay," I said.

"Wherever you go, I'll go," Jaccen declared.

"I wish to stay hither as well," Devin said. She turned to Wanderer, who was already looking at her. "Do you want to stay with us, my Wanderer? I know this place, and the colossi, held some bad memories for you, but that was all due to Dormin. Give this place a second chance. If you don't do it for them, then do it for me. Please. It wouldn't be the hardest thing you've ever done in my name, would it?"

A smile flashed across Wanderer's face. "Of course not. And of course I'll stay."

With that, they embraced each other for the first time in such a long time. And we began our new life in the Forbidden Lands, living side-by-side with the colossi. Thither would be many offspring from three species: colossi, horse, and human. Other humans would eventually find these lands, and Freelancer and Gryffindor would help them to reach the ground. The colossi would spread out across the world, for they were no longer limited to just the Forbidden Lands. The original sixteen colossi would stay, as would the first four humans to settle thither in many sun cycles until death took them.

As is the continuous tale of the Shadow of the Colossus.

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_A/N: The end! Well, was this what you expected? Did you like it? Whatever your thoughts are of this story, tell me, please. Thank you for reading, thank you for reviewing if you have, and have a very good day. I've enjoyed you all very much, and it pains me to end this, but all stories must come to an end. Once, again, thank you and have a wonderfully fantastic day._


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